Each day, this column will provide live updates for all NBA news. Enjoy up-to-the-minute alerts for injuries and lineup confirmations. The Key News to Watch section will highlight notable injuries to monitor for the current NBA slate.
Key NBA News to Watch
Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee) — Available
LeBron James (ankle) — In
Paul George (hamstring) — Out
Kawhi Leonard (injury management) — Out
Darius Garland (thumb) — In
Jrue Holiday (illness) — Available
Russell Westbrook (foot) — Available
Jerami Grant (quad) — Available
Tyler Herro (back) — Out
Jusuf Nurkic (illness) — Available
Gordon Hayward (hamstring) — Out
Recent NBA News
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Confirmed Lineup: Damian Lillard, Anfernee Simons, Josh Hart, Jerami Grant, Jusuf Nurkic
Jerami Grant (quad) — Available
Jusuf Nurkic (illness) — Available
Gary Payton II (ankle) — Out
Justise Winslow (ankle) — Injured
Nassir Little (hip) — Injured
Jabari Walker and Trendon Watford could absorb most of Grant's minutes if he is ruled out. Alternatively, coach Billups could play Hart at the four against a smaller Pacers team in that event, opening up minutes across the wing.
Confirmed Lineup: Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Buddy Hield, Aaron Nesmith, Myles Turner
Jalen Smith (hand) — Out
Daniel Theis (knee) — Injured
Confirmed Lineup: Ayo Dosunmu, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Patrick Williams, Nikola Vucevic
Alex Caruso (ankle) — Out
Javonte Green (knee) — Injured
Tony Bradley (personal) — Not on injury report
Lonzo Ball (knee) — Injured
Dosunmu's 19.0% usage rate in the last four games ranks third on the Bulls. Chicago has registered the worst offensive rebounding rate (21.6%) in the league during their previous 15 games and might be unable to take advantage of a smaller 76ers' lineup.
Confirmed Lineup: James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, De'Anthony Melton, Tobias Harris, PJ Tucker
Joel Embiid (foot) — Injured
Harden led the team with 26 points, 27.5% usage, and eight assists with Embiid sidelined in Philadelphia's 129-126 overtime win over Indiana on Wednesday. Maxey posted the second-highest usage rate (21.4%) on the team while playing 36.6 minutes, and Montrezl Harrell's chemistry with Harden showed as Harrell scored 19 points on eight-for-nine shooting in 28.0 minutes.
Confirmed Lineup: Jalen Brunson, Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes, Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson
RJ Barrett (finger) — Injured
Brunson has averaged 11.4 points on 36.7% shooting in five career starts against Toronto. He was limited to scoring seven points on three-for-14 shooting at home against the Raptors 15 days ago.
Confirmed Lineup: Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr., Scottie Barnes, OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam
Otto Porter (toe) — Injured
Siakam scored 52 points on 34.0% usage and a 72.0 eFG% in Toronto's 113-106 road win over New York 15 days ago. He had previously exceeded 20 points in just one of his last four games against the Knicks.
Confirmed Lineup: Ben Simmons, Kyrie Irving, Royce O'Neale, Kevin Durant, Nic Claxton
TJ Warren (rib) — Available
Confirmed Lineup: CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, Naji Marshall, Trey Murphy, Jonas Valanciunas
Larry Nance Jr. (shoulder) — Available
Willy Hernangomez (ankle) — Available
Zion Williamson (hamstring) — Injured
Brandon Ingram (toe) — Injured
Valanciunas led the Pelicans with 28.8% usage and a 25.0% rebounding rate in 31.7 minutes during the first game of Williamson's absence Wednesday. The last three starting centers to face the Nets recorded a defensive rebound rate of at least 26.3%; Mason Plumlee and Nikola Vucevic also exceeded 20 points against Brooklyn in that time.
Confirmed Lineup: LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Jalen McDaniels, PJ Washington, Mason Plumlee
Gordon Hayward (hamstring) — Out
James Bouknight (G League) — Out
Kai Jones (G League) — Out
Kelly Oubre (hand) — Injured
McDaniels and Cody Martin should continue to man the small forward position, and Dennis Smith Jr. could again complete a three-guard rotation in Hayward's expected absence. Rozier (+4.2%), Washington (+3.4%), and Ball (+2.8%) have recorded the highest usage differentials on the Hornets with Oubre and Hayward off the court this season.
Confirmed Lineup: Jrue Holiday, Grayson Allen, Pat Connaughton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez
Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee) — Available
Jrue Holiday (illness) — Available
Joe Ingles (injury management) — Not on injury report
George Hill (illness) — Available
MarJon Beauchamp (thigh) — Available
Khris Middleton (knee) — Out
Antetokounmpo has logged an increased 28.3% defensive rebound rate during his last seven matches. He has recorded at least 12 rebounds and averaged 14.9 boards during his previous eight matchups with Charlotte.
Confirmed Lineup: Monte Morris, Corey Kispert, Kyle Kuzma, Kristaps Porzingis, Daniel Gafford
Daniel Gafford (elbow) — Not on injury report
Taj Gibson (groin) — Available
Bradley Beal (hamstring) — Injured
Morris (30.8%) and Kuzma (26.5%) have registered elevated assist rates as Beal played just 13.3 minutes in the last four games. However, they would share more of the facilitating responsibilities if Deni Avdija's defense is valued against the Thunder and he logs significant minutes with the starters.
Confirmed Lineup: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams, Mike Muscala
Jaylin Williams (ankle) — Out
Eugene Omoruyi (G League) — Available
Aleksej Pokusevski (leg) — Injured
Ousmane Dieng (wrist) — Injured
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (ankle) — Injured
Chet Holmgren (foot) — Injured
Kenrich Williams played the majority of his time at center as he averaged 22.0 minutes in the previous two games. Coach Daigneault likely chooses three of Kenrich Williams, Darius Bazley, Omoruyi, and Muscala to comprise a three-center rotation against the Wizards.
Confirmed Lineup: Killian Hayes, Jaden Ivey, Bojan Bogdanovic, Isaiah Stewart, Jalen Duren
Marvin Bagley (hand) — Injured
Isaiah Livers (shoulder) — Injured
Cade Cunningham (shin) — Injured
Coach Casey kept a tight eight-man rotation for most of Wednesday's 122-119 road victory over the Warriors on Wednesday. As a result, Saddiq Bey and Alec Burks both exceeded 28.0 minutes.
Confirmed Lineup: Tre Jones, Romeo Langford, Keldon Johnson, Jeremy Sochan, Jakob Poeltl
Josh Richardson (quad) — Available
Keita Bates-Diop (illness) — Available
Blake Wesley (G League) — Out
Devin Vassell (knee) — Injured
Langford has recorded 15.8% usage in 22.2 minutes per game with Vassell sidelined this season. Johnson (+2.9%) and Bates-Diop (+2.5%) are the only current Spurs to record a usage differential greater than 2.0% with Vassell off the floor thus far.
Confirmed Lineup: Reggie Jackson, Terance Mann, Luke Kennard, Marcus Morris, Ivica Zubac
Paul George (hamstring) — Out
Kawhi Leonard (injury management) — Out
John Wall (injury management) — Not on injury report
Nic Batum (ankle) — Out
George and Leonard could be more likely to play against the Timberwolves after neither player logged over 18.3 minutes Thursday. George's +2.5 usage differential in games Leonard has missed this season leads the Clippers.
Confirmed Lineup: D'Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Kyle Anderson, Rudy Gobert
Naz Reid (back) — Available
Bryn Forbes (shoulder) — Available
Jordan McLaughlin (calf) — Injured
Karl-Anthony Towns (calf) — Injured
The Clippers have allowed opponents to score the fourth-most points in the paint per game (54.2) during their last ten matches. Gobert and Edwards lead the Timberwolves with 10.2 points in the paint per game.
Confirmed Lineup: Darius Garland, Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen
Donovan Mitchell (rest) — Out
Darius Garland (thumb) — In
Dean Wade (shoulder) — Injured
Dylan Windler (ankle) — Injured
Ricky Rubio (ACL) — Injured
Garland has logged a +3.0% usage differential with Mitchell off the floor this season. With Mitchell and Garland off the court this season, Allen (31.3%), Kevin Love (26.3%), and Mobley (25.1%) have led the Cavs in usage, while LeVert (25.2%) and Love (22.4%) have logged the highest assist rates on the team.
Confirmed Lineup: Jamal Murray, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic
Jamal Murray (injury management) — Said he'll play
Peyton Watson (adductor) — Injured
Jeff Green (hand, finger) — Injured
The Nuggets are 2-2 and have allowed the third-most points per 100 possessions (122.3) on the second game of a back-to-back set this season. Conversely, the Cavs are 3-2 but have scored the third-fewest points per 100 possessions (107.7) against teams playing on zero days of rest.
Confirmed Lineup: Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, Jimmy Butler, Haywood Highsmith, Bam Adebayo
Caleb Martin (quad) — Out
Tyler Herro (back) — Out
Dewayne Dedmon (foot) — Available
Udonis Haslem (Achilles) — Available
Duncan Robinson (finger) — Injured
Nikola Jovic (back) — Injured
Omer Yurtseven (ankle) — Injured
Butler has recorded the third-highest usage rate (23.1%) on the Heat in his last five games. He has averaged 19.6 points and scored under 20 points in four out of five matches against the Suns since they drafted Mikal Bridges.
Confirmed Lineup: Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, Mikal Bridges, Torrey Craig, Deandre Ayton
Cam Payne (foot) — Out
Devin Booker (groin) — Injured
Cam Johnson (knee) — Injured
The Suns have registered the seventh-lowest offensive rating in the league (111.3) with Booker sidelined for almost all of their last nine games. However, Phoenix has recorded the fourth-highest three-point percentage (41.3%) and scored the third-highest percentage of their points from downtown (38.2%) during that time. Their shooting should be particularly valuable against a Heat team that has allowed opponents to make the second-most threes per 100 possessions (13.5) at the third-highest percentage (36.9%) this season.
Confirmed Lineup: Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, De'Andre Hunter, John Collins, Onyeka Okongwu
Clint Capela (calf) — Out
Collins has posted 21.7% usage in his last five contests and exceeded 20 points in four of those games. The outlier was when he scored seven points on three-for-seven shooting and fouled out in just 23.0 minutes against the Lakers last Friday.
Confirmed Lineup: Dennis Schroder, Patrick Beverley, LeBron James, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Thomas Bryant
LeBron James (ankle) — In
Russell Westbrook (foot) — Available
Troy Brown Jr. (quad) — Out
Damian Jones (toe) — Out
Max Christie (G League) — Available
Sterling Brown (signed) — Available
Austin Reaves (hamstring) — Injured
Lonnie Walker (knee) — Injured
Anthony Davis (foot) — Injured
James, Christie, and Juan Toscano-Anderson could play most of the forward minutes if Brown Jr. is ruled out. However, coach Ham could also be forced to play Schroder, Beverley, and Russell Westbrook together for extended periods or utilize Wenyen Gabriel at forward in that event. Six out of 11 Lakers who could be in the rotation Friday have logged usage rates of 14.0% or lower.