Sports Insights Cyber Monday Sale
50% off 1st month of Premium with code "THANKSSI"
There are seven games tonight with a lot of injuries and questionable players. We’ll analyze two key situations in this piece: the Indiana Pacers at Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at Washington Wizards.
Note: The information below is as of 4:30 p.m. ET. For up-to-the-minute news and analysis, check out our live news feed and follow us on Twitter.
Jazz SG Donovan Mitchell is out.
Injury background: Mitchell suffered a rib contusion during Friday’s loss and didn’t return, then sat out of Sunday’s win with the injury. This will be his second straight missed game.
Tonight’s impact: Royce O’Neale started in Mitchell’s place on Sunday but didn’t make much of an impact, logging just 16 minutes. Ricky Rubio has proven to be the biggest beneficiary in the Jazz backcourt in Mitchell’s absence and has topped 42 DraftKings points in two of the three games he’s missed.
Coach Quin Snyder used both Grayson Allen and Raul Neto in his first-half rotation on Sunday, making it difficult to trust either O’Neale or Alec Burks as a DFS option.
Jae Crowder replaced Derrick Favors in the starting lineup during Sunday’s win, and it’s unclear if he’ll continue to start ahead of Favors opposite Thaddeus Young. Favors got all of the backup center minutes and provided 37.4 FanDuel points on Sunday, and he’s averaged a FantasyLabs’ +5.16 DraftKings Plus/Minus on zero days rest since last season.
Since the beginning of last year, the Jazz have led the NBA with a +2.65 DraftKings Plus/Minus on the second leg of a back-to-back for players projected to play at least 20 minutes.
Rockets PG Chris Paul is questionable.
Injury background: Paul sat out of Saturday’s loss with a sore left leg, the first game he’s missed due to injury this season. It was originally thought to be for rest in the second leg of a back-to-back, but it looks like he’s dealing with an actual injury given his questionable status Monday.
Tonight’s impact: Teammate Gerald Green (ankle) is also considered questionable, so the Rockets could be a bit thin in the backcourt should both be forced to sit out.
Eric Gordon replaced Paul in the starting lineup on Saturday, while Green was limited to just 17 minutes off the bench. All five Rockets starters exceeded 30 minutes, with James Harden leading the way with 44.
Gordon contributed 28 points in his spot start while Harden took 30 field goal attempts and scored 40 points. If Paul is unable to suit up, both Gordon and Harden will make for strong options as the primary focal points of the offense.