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 (injury management) — In
Luka Doncic (quad) — In
Donovan Mitchell (illness) — Out
Dillon Brooks (abdominal) — Out
Kyle Kuzma (quad) — Available
Nic Claxton (injury maintenance) — Out
Cam Johnson (injury maintenance) — Out
Jusuf Nurkic (personal) — Available
Spencer Dinwiddie (rest) — Out
Tim Hardaway Jr. (illness) — Available
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Confirmed Lineup: Tyrese Maxey, De'Anthony Melton, Kelly Oubre, Tobias Harris, Paul Reed
Joel Embiid (ankle) — Out
Nicolas Batum (hamstring) — Out
With Embiid sidelined, Maxey and Harris will likely garner more usage. In games Embiid has missed this season, Maxey has seen a +2.3% usage rate increase, while Harris has seen an increase of +3.3%. Embiid's absences might have increased some of his teammates' stats, but they have hurt the team as a whole. Philadelphia has lost all four contests Embiid has missed, and now they'll face a Magic team with the ninth-best Net Rating (+3.1) of any team league-wide.
Confirmed Lineup: Anthony Black, Jalen Suggs, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero, Wendell Carter Jr.
Markelle Fultz (knee) — Out
Joe Ingles (ankle) — Out
Gary Harris (calf) — Out
Jonathan Isaac (hamstring) — Out
Confirmed Lineup: Scottie Barnes, Gary Trent Jr., OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, Jakob Poeltl
Garrett Temple (ankle) — Out
Christian Koloko (respiratory) — Injured
Confirmed Lineup: Tyus Jones, Jordan Poole, Deni Avdija, Kyle Kuzma, Daniel Gafford
Danilo Gallinari (rest) — Not on injury report
Kyle Kuzma (quad) — Available
Delon Wright (rest) — Out
Confirmed Lineup: Damian Lillard, Malik Beasley, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez
Giannis Antetokounmpo (injury management) — In
Jae Crowder (adductor) — Injured
The Bucks could be without Antetokounmpo in a game against Brooklyn, who he scored 36 points against earlier in the season. If Antetokounmpo does sit out, Middleton should have plenty of opportunities, as he has seen a team-high +10.6% usage rate increase when on the floor without Antetokounmpo this season. The Nets are allowing 23.7 points per contest to opposing small forwards, and they're coming off of a game where they gave up 23 points to Bojan Bogdanovic.
Confirmed Lineup: Dennis Smith Jr., Cam Thomas, Mikal Bridges, Royce O'Neale, Day'Ron Sharpe
Dorian Finney-Smith (knee) — Out
Nic Claxton (injury maintenance) — Out
Cam Johnson (injury maintenance) — Out
Spencer Dinwiddie (rest) — Out
Lonnie Walker (hamstring) — Injured
Ben Simmons (back) — Injured
Confirmed Lineup: Devin Booker, Grayson Allen, Eric Gordon, Kevin Durant, Jusuf Nurkic
Josh Okogie (ankle) — Available
Jusuf Nurkic (personal) — Available
Bradley Beal (ankle) — Injured
Damion Lee (knee) — Injured
Confirmed Lineup: Fred VanVleet, Jalen Green, Jae'Sean Tate, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun
Dillon Brooks (abdominal) — Out
Tari Eason (leg) — Available
Victor Oladipo (knee) — Injured
Confirmed Lineup: Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, Isaiah Hartenstein
Jericho Sims (ankle) — Injured
Mitchell Robinson (ankle) — Injured
Confirmed Lineup: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren
Confirmed Lineup: Craig Porter Jr., Max Strus, Isaac Okoro, Dean Wade, Jarrett Allen
Donovan Mitchell (illness) — Out
Caris LeVert (knee) — Available
Sam Merrill (wrist) — Out
Evan Mobley (knee) — Injured
Darius Garland (jaw) — Injured
Ty Jerome (ankle) — Injured
Ricky Rubio — NWT
Mitchell missed the last three outings, and the Cavaliers managed to win two of the three. Allen averaged 16.7 points and 10.7 rebounds in those games and shot 70.0% from the field. He'll have an inviting matchup against Dallas, as the Mavericks have allowed the third-most points (25.3) and the fifth-most rebounds per game (15.7) to centers this season. If Mitchell can return, he'll face Dallas sans Kyrie Irving (heel) and possibly without Luka Doncic (quad).
Confirmed Lineup: Luka Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr., Dante Exum, Derrick Jones Jr., Dereck Lively II
Luka Doncic (quad) — In
Tim Hardaway Jr. (illness) — Available
Josh Green (elbow) — Available
Kyrie Irving (heel) — Injured
Maxi Kleber (toe) — Injured
The Mavericks have won 18 of their 28 games with Doncic available this season and have averaged 121.1 points per contest in those outings. In their two games sans Doncic, they've suffered two losses and scored 95.0 points per contest. Regardless of Doncic's final status, Dallas will likely look to exploit the Cavaliers at the three-point line, as the Mavericks' 470 made threes are the second most league-wide. That will be no easy task, however, as Cleveland's opponents have made just 11.5 threes per game in December, the sixth-fewest of any team this month.