NBA News & Fantasy Basketball Notes 4/6

Apr 6th 2024Cooper Boni

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

  • Joel Embiid (injury recovery) — In

  • Nikola Jokic (hip) — Available

  • LeBron James (ankle) — Available

  • Anthony Davis (knee) — Available

  • Jamal Murray (knee) — Available

  • Tyrese Maxey (hip) — In

  • Jalen Duren (ankle) — Out

  • Desmond Bane (back) — Out

  • Cade Cunningham (injury management) — Out

  • Jaren Jackson Jr. (quad) — Out

  • Aaron Gordon (foot) — Out

  • Tobias Harris (knee) — Out

  • Cam Johnson (toe) — Out

  • Luke Kennard (knee) — Out

  • Santi Aldama (foot) — Out

Follow us on Twitter at @Underdog__NBA for notifications.

Cleveland Cavaliers News

Confirmed Lineup: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

  • Craig Porter Jr. (illness) — Available

  • Isaac Okoro (toe) — Out

  • Dean Wade (knee) — Injured

  • Ty Jerome (ankle) — Injured

Los Angeles Lakers News

Confirmed Lineup: D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James, Anthony Davis

  • LeBron James (ankle) — Available

  • Anthony Davis (knee) — Available

  • Jarred Vanderbilt (foot) — Injured

  • Christian Wood (knee) — Injured

  • Jalen Hood-Schifino (back) — Injured

The Lakers have gotten hot at the right time, winning eight of their last 10 outings, including each of the previous three. They're now the ninth seed in the Western Conference, but following the most recent game, James mentioned that the team isn't focusing on the standings. "Our focus is on our next opponent, and not what's going on in the rankings," James said. He and Davis have often played through questionable tags this season, and with just five games remaining, the Lakers may need them to continue to do so. After this contest, Los Angeles will wrap their season up against the Wolves, Warriors, Grizzlies, and Pelicans.

Detroit Pistons News

Confirmed Lineup: Marcus Sasser, Jaden Ivey, Troy Brown Jr., Chimezie Metu, James Wiseman

  • Jalen Duren (ankle) — Out

  • Taj Gibson (hamstring) — Available

  • Cade Cunningham (injury management) — Out

  • Simone Fontecchio (toe) — Out

  • Evan Fournier (knee) — Out

  • Tosan Evbuomwan (G League) — Out

  • Ausar Thompson (blood clot) — Out for season

  • Isaiah Stewart (hamstring) — Out for season

  • Quentin Grimes (knee) — Out for season

  • Stanley Umude (ankle) — Out for season

Brooklyn Nets News

Confirmed Lineup: Dennis Schroder, Cam Thomas, Mikal Bridges, Dorian Finney-Smith, Nic Claxton

  • Cam Johnson (toe) — Out

  • Dennis Smith Jr. (hip) — Out

  • Ben Simmons (back) — Out for season

  • Keita Bates-Diop (leg) — Out for season

  • Dariq Whitehead (shin) — Out for season

Philadelphia 76ers News

Confirmed Lineup: Tyrese Maxey, Kyle Lowry, Kelly Oubre, Nicolas Batum, Joel Embiid

  • Joel Embiid (injury recovery) — In

  • Tyrese Maxey (hip) — In

  • Tobias Harris (knee) — Out

  • Nicolas Batum (foot) — In

  • Mo Bamba (illness) — Out

  • De'Anthony Melton (back) — Injured

  • Robert Covington (knee) — Injured

Embiid has played in two games since returning from an eight-week absence. Philadelphia won both outings, and Embiid averaged 26.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in 31.0 minutes per contest. The 76ers have looked like an entirely different team with Embiid this season. They're 28-8 with him and 14-27 without him, and their 120.7 points per game with Embiid on the floor would rank as the third-most league-wide. When he's been sidelined, Philadelphia's averaged just 108.6 points per game, which would be the third-fewest of any team.

Memphis Grizzlies News

Confirmed Lineup: Scotty Pippen Jr., Jordan Goodwin, Maozinha Periera, GG Jackson, Trey Jemison

  • Brandon Clarke (injury maintenance) — Available

  • Jake LaRavia (ankle) — Out

  • Lamar Stevens (groin) — Out

  • Jaren Jackson Jr. (quad) — Out

  • Desmond Bane (back) — Out

  • Luke Kennard (knee) — Out

  • John Konchar (foot) — Out

  • Santi Aldama (foot) — Out

  • Yuta Watanabe (personal) — Out

  • Marcus Smart (finger) — Injured

  • Vince Williams (knee) — Injured

  • Derrick Rose (back, groin) — Injured

  • Ziaire Williams (hip, back) — Injured

  • Ja Morant (shoulder) — Out for season

Memphis has dealt with injuries all season long which continued in the first leg of a back-to-back set on Friday. The Grizzlies were without Jackson Jr., Bane, Kennard, Clarke, Aldama, Konchar, and Watanabe, while already dealing with extended absences from other key players. They'll probably need at least a few pieces back to compete with the 76ers, who are uncertain if Joel Embiid (injury recovery) will play. Jackson Jr. had a couple of huge performances before being sidelined, scoring 40 and 35 points in his two most recent outings.

Atlanta Hawks News

Confirmed Lineup: Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanovic, De'Andre Hunter, Jalen Johnson, Clint Capela

  • Mouhamed Gueye (elbow) — Available

  • Seth Lundy (ankle) — Out

  • Trae Young (finger) — Injured

  • Onyeka Okongwu (toe) — Injured

  • AJ Griffin (ankle) — Injured

  • Saddiq Bey (knee) — Out for season

Denver Nuggets News

Confirmed Lineup: Jamal Murray, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr., Nikola Jokic

  • Nikola Jokic (hip) — Available

  • Aaron Gordon (foot) — Out

  • Jamal Murray (knee) — Available

  • Reggie Jackson (illness) — Available

  • Vlatko Cancar (knee) — Injured

Denver has lost three of its last five outings, to no fault of Jokic, who has remained dominant. He led the team in points and rebounds in those five games while also chipping in a 16-assist performance. The Nuggets lost a close game to the Clippers in the previous contest, and they'll now turn their attention to the Hawks, who are 10-8 since the start of last month. Denver faced Atlanta once this season back in December and won by seven points. Murray scored a team-high 29 points in that outing, and the Nuggets will hope to get him back for this contest after missing the last five games.