NBA Player News

Sabonis (ribs) participated in Friday's morning shootaround, Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee reports.

Sabonis remains listed as questionable for Friday's game against the Timberwolves, but his availability at the morning shootaround bodes well for his status. Sabonis holds regular-season averages of 15.3 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists across nine appearances.

Sharpe (lower body) is good to go for Friday's game against Orlando, Brian Lewis of the New York Post reports.

Sharpe will shake off a probable tag and will likely reprise his role as the backup center. The big man holds averages of 6.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 0.9 steals in 15.9 minutes per contest across 10 games this season.

Lively (knee) will return to action Friday against the Clippers, ESPN's Shams Charania reports.

Lively is set to return after a nine-game absence. Given his injury history, it's likely that he's going to face restrictions in his first couple of games back. With Lively back in the mix, Daniel Gafford's floor will likely be a bit lower, and Moussa Cisse could see his role fade.

Nurkic accumulated 10 points (4-7 FG, 1-2 3Pt, 1-3 FT), 10 rebounds, eight assists, one block and five steals in 28 minutes during Thursday's 132-122 loss to the Hawks.

Nurkic is suddenly running hot for the Jazz after a brutal start to the month. In his last two games, he's averaging 10.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 0.5 blocks and 2.5 steals in 29.5 minutes per contest. His percentages can be shaky, and he's not the most consistent player, but at least for the time being, he belongs in most fantasy lineups.

Maluach posted two points (1-2 FG, 0-1 3Pt), two rebounds and one block across six minutes during Thursday's 133-98 win over the Pacers.

Even with Mark Williams (rest) getting the night off for maintenance, the rookie logged just six minutes on the night. He's an intriguing long-term project for the Suns, but it's clear the team is going to bring him along very slowly.

Okongwu chipped in 32 points (11-18 FG, 8-14 3Pt, 2-2 FT), 11 rebounds, two assists, three blocks and two steals in 35 minutes during Thursday's 132-122 victory over the Jazz.

Okongwu was lights out from distance in this one, and that was a team-wide trend, with Atlanta setting a new franchise record with 16 triples by halftime. The Hawks' 24 made threes on the evening accounted for the most threes made by any team this season. Okongwu is taking a career-high 4.1 three-point attempts per game this season, and he's converting a career-high 1.6 of those attempts.

Poeltl finished Thursday's 126-113 win over the Cavaliers with 20 points (7-10 FG, 6-6 FT), seven rebounds, three assists and two steals over 20 minutes.

It was an efficient night from the field and the charity stripe for Poeltl, who finished with the third-most points on the Raptors behind Scottie Barnes (28) and Immanuel Quickley (25). Through four games in November, Poeltl has averaged 13.0 points on 74.1 percent shooting, 9.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks over 26.1 minutes per game.

Okongwu will start Thursday's game against the Jazz, Brad Rowland of the Locked On Podcast Network reports.

With Kristaps Porzingis (rest) sitting out the second leg of a back-to-back set, Okongwu will enter the starting five. Over three starts this season, the 24-year-old center has averaged 13.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.7 steals in 33.3 minutes per contest.

Richards is in the starting lineup for Thursday's game versus the Pacers, Shane Young of Forbes.com reports.

Mark Williams (rest) is taking the night off, so Richards will draw his first start of the season and will be joined by Devin Booker, Grayson Allen, Dillon Brooks and Royce O'Neale in the first unit. Richards is capable of racking up the boards and blocks when given the minutes, so he could be someone to consider streaming Thursday with just three games on the slate.

Sabonis (ribs) is questionable for Friday's game against Minnesota.

Sabonis missed a pair of games with a ribcage contusion earlier in the month, and the Kings continue to monitor his health. The superstar big man could go through pregame warmups before Sacramento clarifies his status. If Sabonis is unable to give it a go, Precious Achiuwa and Drew Eubanks would likely fill out the majority of the center minutes Friday.