NBA Player News

Salaün, who last appeared in a game on March 3, remains sidelined by a strained left calf. His absence does not affect fantasy basketball, as the second-year forward is not guaranteed rotation minutes when healthy.

Antetokounmpo has now had at least 35 points in each of his first two games in a Heat uniform. He played a more complete game across the stat sheet compare to the opener with 12 rebounds, five assists and three stocks. Still, the Heat lost to the Pistons by 17 after dropping the opener to the Timberwolves by 25. Miami will look for its first win of the season and probably get it against the reeling Hornets in Charlotte on Saturday.

Thompson appeared to roll his ankle while Duren grabbed his leg and headed to the locker room midway through the second quarter. While there was no update from Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff after the game, the team said Duren was questionable to return with a thigh injury. It’s unclear if either player will be available for Sunday’s game against the 76ers, though more information about Thompson and Duren’s status should be available Saturday.

Robinson is yet to make a two-point field goal so far this season, but he’s 10-of-19 from behind the three-point line in the first two games this year. The 32-year-old forward’s fantasy utility is mostly limited to his three-point shooting, but it looks like the right time to continue to ride the hot hand.

Collins had a quiet debut with six points in the win over the Celtics on Tuesday, but he was excellent in the win over the Heat on Friday. The 29-year-old power forward was 9-of-15 from the field, including 5-of-6 from behind the three-point line. Jalen Duren (thigh) left with an injury in the second quarter and didn’t return, which likely led to more opportunities for Collins. With Duren’s status still up in the air, Collins could be in line for more usage again on Sunday against the 76ers.

Cunningham had another fine game as he filled the stat sheet and led the Pistons to another win to start the season. However, after turning the ball over five times in the win over the Celtics on Tuesday, he had seven turnovers against the Heat on Friday. Even opposing coaches like the Heat’s Erik Spolstra have pointed out that Cunningham isn’t necessarily a bad ball-handler, but commits a lot of turnovers thanks to almost always having the ball in his hands. That doesn’t offer much comfort to fantasy managers with Cunningham in nine-category leagues as he’s likely to be towards the top of the league in turnovers this year.

There’s no sugarcoating it; Miller is off to a rough start to begin the season. The 23-year-old small forward had 18 points in the opener, but shot just 7-of-21 from the floor. He followed that performance up by going 2-of-14, including 1-of-11 from behind the three-point line. He’s now 4-of-25 (16 percent) from behind the arc to begin the season. Miller was an almost incomprehensible -37 in 22 minutes in the 128-81 loss to the Haws Friday. Is this rock bottom? Because it feels like it can only get better from here.

Reid had seven turnovers despite only playing 24 minutes and that’s a crusher in nine-category leagues. Otherwise, he’s scored 37 points on 15-of-34 attempts with seven three-pointers in his first two games with the Hornets. That’ll play. If Reid can keep the turnovers under control, he’s well on his way to paying off his mid-round draft price.

McBride rebounded nicely from his poor showing in Tuesday’s loss to the 76ers, a game in which he scored three points on 1-of-5 shooting. Against the Celtics, Deuce shot 6-of-8 from three and scored 20 of the Knicks’ 32 bench points. The reserve role doesn’t help McBride deliver consistent fantasy value, but he can be an effective source of points and three-pointers in deep leagues.

Brunson’s gotten off to a slow start by his standards, shooting 13-of-32 from the field in New York’s first two games. The Knicks star also didn’t shoot well from the foul line, missing three of his six attempts in Boston. Those rostering Brunson don’t have much to worry about, as the season is only two games old. However, they would certainly like to see him clean up his shooting in Sunday’s game against the Magic.

With less than two minutes left in the first half, Dyson Daniel hit the floor for one of his seven steals, leading to a Jalen Johnson alley-oop dunk on the other end. That pretty much encapsulates how the night went for the Hawks as Johnson led the team in scoring with 19 in the 128-81 blowout win. Johnson showed he was able to move past the extracurriculars with the Magic on Wednesday with his usual excellent performance against the Hornets.