NBA Player News

Williams will not return to Friday's game against the Rockets due to a right knee injury.

Williams logged under seven minutes before exiting, and he'll finish with three rebounds and one assist. With the big man sidelined, Yang Hansen could see an uptick in minutes behind Donovan Clingan the rest of the way. Williams' next chance to play will come Sunday against New York.

Missi produced three points (1-5 FG, 1-2 FT), nine rebounds, two assists and one block across 13 minutes during Friday's 128-107 win over Washington.

Missi continues to deliver modest production, despite playing as the primary backup behind Derik Queen. While this is only his second season in the league, it appears as though Missi will struggle to be anything more than a backup at best. In 32 games this season, he is averaging just 5.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 17.7 minutes per contest.

Queen racked up 14 points (7-13 FG, 0-2 3Pt), 16 rebounds, 12 assists and two blocks over 35 minutes during Friday's 128-107 victory over the Wizards.

This was the second triple-double of Queen's career, and he set new career highs in boards and dimes. The rookie has been rolling over the past month, flirting with mid-round value behind averages of 12.9 points, 9.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.3 blocks per contest.

Carlson is in the Thunder's starting lineup against the Grizzlies on Friday, Clemente Almanza of USA Today reports.

Carlson will draw the start Friday due to the absences of Chet Holmgren (lower leg), Isaiah Hartenstein (soleus) and Jaylin Williams (heel). It'll be Carlson's second start of the season, with his first taking place Dec. 22 against Memphis, when he logged 11 points (4-7 FG, 3-6 3Pt), three rebounds and two assists over 25 minutes.

Porzingis (Achilles) has been ruled out for Friday's game against the Nuggets.

Porzingis was a late addition to Friday's injury report due to left Achilles tendinitis, and the injury will prevent him from playing in Friday's contest. Mouhamed Gueye is in line for more minutes off the bench in Porzingis' absence. His next opportunity to play is Sunday against the Warriors.

Nurkic (toe) is questionable for Saturday's game versus the Hornets.

Nurkic sat out the second leg of a back-to-back set with the toe issue Thursday, which resulted in Kevin Love drawing the start, while Kyle Anderson was able to get into the rotation. It'll be more of the same if Nurkic needs to miss Saturday's game, but we'll have a better idea on Nurkic's status based on his activity level at shootaround.

Kalkbrenner (elbow) is probable to play Saturday in Utah.

Kalkbrenner is on track to return from a 10-game absence Saturday evening, so he'll likely have some sort of minutes restriction in his first game back. With the rookie big man expected to be back in the mix, there will be fewer minutes available for Moussa Diabate and PJ Hall. Check back for official word on Kalkbrenner's status closer to Saturday's tipoff at 9:30 p.m. ET.

Embiid (knee) is available for Friday's game in Orlando.

Embiid is good to go for his sixth consecutive game, and he'll look to build off Wednesday's 28-point performance in a blowout win over Washington. Make sure Embiid is active.

Sharpe is coming off the bench in Friday's game against the Clippers, Sharif Phillips-Keaton of USA Today reports.

The Nets have deployed Sharpe as a starter for three consecutive games, though the club plans to have Nic Claxton return to his usual role in the first unit Friday. Sharpe has averaged 8.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.2 steals in 17.1 minutes per tilt across his last 10 games off the bench, so he should be able to maintain a decent level of fantasy value from the second unit.

Claxton will start against the Clippers on Friday, C.J. Holmes of the New York Daily News reports.

Claxton operated under a minutes restriction off the bench in Wednesday's loss to Orlando following a two-game absence due to personal reasons, though he'll return to the starting five Friday. As a result, Day'Ron Sharpe will slide back to the second unit. Claxton has averaged 13.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks in 29.2 minutes per game over his last five starts.