NBA Player News

Watson is one of multiple starters for Denver that will miss this game. He has been on fire as of late, and they’ll have to turn to Julian Strawther, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Spencer Jones to try and make up some of that production.

Mathurin made his Clippers’ debut on Tuesday, coming off the bench and playing 26 minutes. While his shooting accuracy wasn’t good, Mathurin’s minutes and scoring opportunities were encouraging. Add in the rebounds, assists and steals, and there’s some room for optimism regarding Mathurin’s fantasy potential for the rest of this season. He isn’t a must-roster player yet, but keep an eye on him, starting with Wednesday’s rematch with the Rockets.

Over the past two weeks, Collins has been a top-100 player in eight-cat formats, which exceeds his season-long value. Due to the trades of James Harden and Ivica Zubac, Collins boasts a higher fantasy ceiling than he did before those moves were made. However, for him to make good on that potential, he has to be more productive as a defender than he was against the Rockets. Hopefully, Collins can record a few steals and blocks in Wednesday’s rematch.

After dropping 41 points in Sunday’s win over the Timberwolves, Leonard was held in check by the Rockets. With James Harden and Ivica Zubac gone and Darius Garland (toe) not ready to make his Clippers’ debut, even more of the workload has fallen on Leonard’s shoulders. And he’s been up to the task, even with Tuesday’s pedestrian — by his standards — effort. The Clippers visit the Rockets again on Wednesday before going into the All-Star break.

For the first time since mid-December, when he ripped off four straight, Smith has recorded a double-double in consecutive games. He didn’t have the best night shooting the basketball, but the Rockets forward was active on the glass and recorded a complete stat line. Rostered in 49 percent of Yahoo! leagues, Smith has been close to a top-25 player in eight-cat formats over the past two weeks. For managers who need frontcourt production, he’s worth adding ahead of Wednesday’s rematch with the Clippers.

After totaling 24 points in his prior two appearances, Şengün put up 22 against the Clippers. The Rockets center shot the ball efficiently and made some plays for his teammates as well. Due to his percentages, shooting 40.6 percent from the field and 69.6 percent from the foul line, Şengün has only been an eighth-round player in eight-cat formats over the past two weeks, according to Basketball Monster. The Rockets have one more game before the All-Star break, Wednesday night against the Clippers.

Since being limited to 15 points in a February 4 loss to the Celtics, Durant has scored 20 points or more in three straight games. Given his credentials, that isn’t a groundbreaking achievement. But it is notable because the Rockets have not scored more than 106 points in any of those three games. Durant and the Rockets will look to head into the All-Star break on a high note when they host the Clippers again on Wednesday.