There are 10 games tonight with a lot of injuries and questionable players. We'll analyze two key situations in this piece: the New Orleans Pelicans at Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves at San Antonio Spurs.
Note: The information below is as of 2:30 p.m. ET. For up-to-the-minute news and analysis, check out our live news feed and follow us on Twitter.
Pelicans C Anthony Davis (illness) is questionable, PF Nikola Mirotic (ankle) is doubtful, PF Julius Randle (ankle) will play.
Injury background: Davis headed to the locker room not once but twice during Wednesday's loss. He initially tweaked his ankle and returned to the court but was dealing with an illness as well. Randle missed the prior game due to a sprained right ankle, but he'll suit up tonight. Mirotic's sore ankle has held him out of the previous three contests, and he's listed as doubtful.
Tonight's impact: Davis headed to the locker room for a league-high ninth time on Wednesday but has still been able to return in every instance, and although he's missed four games this season, he's currently tied with teammate Jrue Holiday in leading the league with 36.8 minutes per game.
His various ailments limited him to just 29 minutes on Wednesday, but they failed to hinder his performance, as he still produced 57.25 DraftKings points.
Darius Miller drew the start as the team went small for defensive purposes, and he winded up logging a season-high 37 minutes and contributed 29.5 DraftKings points. Cheick Diallo, who was 50% owned in cash games, was held to just one made field goal in six minutes off the bench.
To be fair, his volatile role was recognized, as he was a true punt option with FanDuel's drop-the-lowest-score format. Miller and Diallo could once again be viable options depending on who is available in the frontcourt.
When healthy, Randle has benefited most from Mirotic's absence by recording a team-high FantasyLabs +6.0 DraftKings Plus/Minus differential. He has been an absolute monster in the starting lineup, averaging 23.4 points and 11.2 rebounds in 33.1 minutes per game.
As if the DFS community needs more ammunition to roster him, he'll draw a matchup against his former team in a #RevengeGame.
Holiday is the lone fully healthy offensive weapon, and his usage rate will only increase if one or more key players are unable to suit up. With Mirotic and Elfrid Payton (finger) off the court this season, Holiday has averaged 48.04 DraftKings points with a 25.9% usage rate.
With a desirable total of 231 points, having exposure to this game is crucial in Friday's 10-game slate.
Wolves PG Jeff Teague (ankle) is out.
Tonight's impact: With Teague sidelined, Derrick Rose has entered the starting lineup in his place. Rose put together a vintage performance on Wednesday, penetrating the defense with high-difficulty reverse layups on his way to 33 points.
Per Kirk Goldsberry, Rose now leads the entire NBA in field goal percentage outside of eight feet with a minimum of 200 attempts.
He has easily been the team's primary beneficiary of Teague's absence, accumulating a +6.9% usage rate increase while averaging 1.21 DraftKings points per minute since the Jimmy Butler trade. However, Rose has seen his salary balloon to $7,300 on FanDuel, shifting him more towards tournament consideration.
For a value option, Josh Okogie has stepped into an additional 17.0 minutes per game without Teague and remains near the minimum on both DraftKings and FanDuel. Robert Covington appears to be healthy after dealing with a sore right knee and has averaged a team-high 36.4 minutes in the last two contests. He remains underpriced at $5,700 on DraftKings.
The Wolves are currently implied to score 108 points, but the Spurs have performed at a higher level than any team in the NBA recently. Over the last seven games, they carry the league's No. 1 offense and No. 1 defense with an astonishing +22.1 Net Rating.
