NBA Player News

Hayes-Davis is available after spraining his right ankle recently. However, he isn’t usually a part of the Suns’ rotation, so his status does not affect fantasy basketball.

With Jaylen Brown (hamstring, knee) sidelined for this game, Pritchard took over as the focal point of the offense. He has typically had big nights when Brown is out of the lineup, and that was the case once again in this one. In four games without Brown, he has averaged 26.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 8.5 assists and 3.8 three-pointers per game. He has been fantastic all season, but this was one of his best performances. If Brown remains out against the Bucks on Sunday, Pritchard should be in for another monster outing.

Black has posted at least 25 points in two consecutive games. The 22-year-old point guard went about the scoring in completely different ways. In Wednesday’s win over the Heat, Black didn’t make a free throw and only even attempted one shot from the charity stripe. Friday against the Raptors, he made all 14 of his free throw attempts. While Black is averaging just 15.8 points per game this year and the boost in scoring is likely a blip, he still offers enough fantasy value to be rostered in standard leagues.

The Magic trailed by 13 points after three quarters, but Bane got white hot in the fourth quarter and carried Orlando to victory. The 27-year-old shooting guard had 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting and four three-pointers in the fourth quarter alone. The Magic improved to 6-0 this season when Bane has at least 30 points. The was exactly what the team envisioned when they traded for Bane in the offseason. He’s provided third-round per game value over the last two weeks. The Magic will close out the week Sunday against the Spurs.

LaVine came off the bench in his return from a two-game absence on Thursday, and he returned to the starting lineup 24 hours later. He scored 17 points in both games, though he was more efficient in this one, even if the result on the scoreboard was the same. LaVine’s name will be floated around in trade rumors as the deadline approaches, but until then, he’ll remain a decent scoring option, even if he hasn’t been able to score as much as he typically does in recent weeks.

Raynaud got the starting nod with Domantas Sabonis sidelined for the second leg of Sacramento’s back-to-back, and he took full advantage of the increased opportunity. He was able to match his career-high for rebounds and record a double-double for the first time since December. Sabonis should return to take on the Wizards on Sunday, which will push Raynaud back to the bench. However, it was good to see Raynaud be productive, especially after how rough most of his starts were in December.

Schröder started on Thursday and had arguably his best game of the season with Russell Westbrook (foot) sidelined. He started again in this one, and, to put it mildly, the results were not as good. Schröder set a season high for scoring on Thursday, but follow it up by scoring four points for the second time in his last three games. Basically, Schröder has either been really good or really bad in recent weeks; no middle ground for average production. He should start against the Wizards on Sunday if Westbrook remains out.

James struggled in Wednesday’s blowout loss, but he was able to get back on track in this game. He was far more efficient, though it didn’t turn into a great outing because of how dominant Luka Doncic and Deandre Ayton were and how lopsided the score was. Still, it was good to see LeBron bounce back, especially since he has been quieter in recent weeks after a strong start to January. Next up on the schedule is a trip to New York on Sunday, which will be game seven of this eight game road trip.

Dončić got off to an unreal start to this game, and he ended up entering halftime with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. This was the second time in Dončić’s career that he recorded a triple-double in a single half, joining Nikola Jokic and Russell Westbrook as the only players to do it multiple times in the play-by-play era, per Stathead. He has been fantastic all season, and this performance was one of his best. He’ll look to keep it going in New York on Sunday to wrap up the week.

It has been a rough stretch for Ayton recently, but the Wizards didn’t have an answer for him in this game. This was Domin-Ayton at his finest. Across his five games prior to this game, he had scored a total of 33 points. He fell one point shy of matching his season high for scoring, though that hasn’t been typical for him. Ayton’s role has been inconsistent, which has contributed to his production following the same trend. He’ll look to stay hot in New York on Sunday.