In daily fantasy basketball, every edge matters.
One of the easiest ways to find an edge is to understand what happens to a team when injuries occur. Who stands to benefit? Who might struggle as a result? That's all vital information during the lineup-building process.
What should you know about tonight's slate of games? Let's break it down.
As always, you should make sure to double-check our NBA Player News page before finalizing your lineup.
The Definites
Tonight is a very small slate of games in the NBA and, unfortunately, there are not any definite injury updates.
The To-Be-Determined List
Stephen Curry is still questionable for tonight's game against the Thunder after missing their game on Tuesday. Golden State and Oklahoma City are two of the fastest teams in the league and betting lines have the total points around 233. In what should be a very high scoring game, Shaun Livingston will likely get a big opportunity to perform if Curry can't play. However, Curry did practice in full on Wednesday and didn't appear to have any setbacks. So he may be closer to "probable" than "questionable."
Andre Iguodala is also listed as questionable for the Warriors tonight. Harrison Barnes and Brandon Rush will likely gain the most from Iguodala sitting out. Barnes played 41 minutes on Tuesday in an overtime victory over Atlanta.
Rajon Rondo has been downgraded from probable to questionable for the Kings tonight. The Kings face off against Rondo's former team, the Dallas Mavericks. Uniquely enough, Rondo sat out last time against the Mavericks, and Darren Collison took over the starting role by playing 47 minutes and contributing 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 12 assists in an overtime loss. If Rondo sits again tonight, Collison becomes a very valuable asset in the daily fantasy world. He will be very highly owned tonight.
Rudy Gay sat out both of the past two games and may miss a third in a row tonight. I've written about Gay each of the last two games that he missed and have highlighted the increase in value to both Omri Casspi and DeMarcus Cousins. Casspi enters the starting lineup and plays more consistent minutes. Gay averages 34 minutes and 15 shots per game, which tend to go to the aforementioned, as well as Quincy Acy.
It is also worth noting that with both Rondo and Gay off the court, Cousins has an unbelievable 42.7% Usage Rate, per NBAWowy.com, up from his already league-leading 33.7%. Cousins also tallied 35 points, 17 rebounds, 4 assists, and 6 steals earlier this year when Sacramento traveled to Dallas.
As always, make sure to check our player news section for the latest notes and updates from around the league. Good luck tonight!