NBA Player News

Ayton logged 20 points (10-11 FG), 16 rebounds, two assists, one block and two steals in 36 minutes during Friday's 118-104 victory over New Orleans.

Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves led the way for the Lakers in this victory, but the impressive performance of Ayton can't be overlooked. The big man, who had a few problems adjusting to the offense at first, has been putting up good numbers of late, though this was his most efficient performance by a wide margin after missing just one of his 11 shots. This was Ayton's fifth double-double of the season, and it was the fourth time he scored at least 20 points. Since missing the Nov. 2 win over Miami, Ayton is shooting an impressive 48-for-63 from the floor in six games -- good for a 76.1 field-goal percentage.

Adams ended Friday's 140-116 win over the Trail Blazers with five points (2-4 FG, 1-2 FT), 11 rebounds, two blocks and one steal across 18 minutes.

Adams grabbed double-digit rebounds for the fourth time this season, and the first time in the past six games. After starting the season in the starting lineup, Adams has since settled back into a bench role, typically playing minutes in the mid-teens. At this point, he should be treated as a rebound streamer only.

Williams finished with four points (2-5 FG, 0-1 3Pt), three rebounds, one block and one steal across 15 minutes during Friday's 140-116 loss to Houston.

Williams logged at least 15 minutes for the third straight game, although his production remains limited. Given his lengthy injury history, there is a chance he may not be able to play more than about 20 minutes on any given night for the remainder of his career. While it is good to see him stringing consecutive performances together, there is no reason to consider him a viable fantasy asset, outside of deeper leagues.

Clingan ended with nine points (4-9 FG, 0-3 3Pt, 1-1 FT) and eight rebounds in 24 minutes during Friday's 140-116 loss to the Rockets.

Clingan continues to offer nothing on the offensive end of the court, averaging just 6.5 points per game over his past eight contests. While the rebounding and block numbers have been serviceable, his lack of versatility makes him a tough player to hold in standard fantasy leagues.

Drummond contributed 12 points (5-6 FG, 2-2 3Pt), 11 rebounds, two assists and one steal across 36 minutes during Friday's 114-105 loss to the Pistons.

With Drummond dropping in his sixth made three-pointer of the season, he set a new personal best for three-pointers made, and he's now 6-for-14 from distance on the year. He looks comfortable firing away from long range, so it seems the 32-year-old big man has truly added a three-point stroke to his repertoire. He's been playing well as Philly's fill-in starter over the past three games with Joel Embiid (knee) sidelined, posting averages of 14.3 points, 12.0 rebounds and 1.3 triples a night.

Sengun delivered 25 points (9-13 FG, 4-6 3Pt, 3-4 FT), 10 rebounds, nine assists, three steals and three blocks over 36 minutes in Friday's 140-116 win over the Trail Blazers.

Sengun finished just one assist away from recording a triple-double, something he's yet to achieve this season, although this was his sixth double-double over his last seven appearances. Furthermore, Sengun ranked either first or second among Rockets players in each of the five major categories. The star big man has been remarkably consistent as one of Houston's go-to weapons on offense so far -- despite the offseason addition of Kevin Durant.

Towns tallied 39 points (13-26 FG, 6-14 3Pt, 7-9 FT), 11 rebounds, four assists and one steal over 38 minutes during the Knicks' 140-132 win over the Heat on Friday.

Friday was Towns' first game this season as the Knicks' top scoring option due to the absence of Jalen Brunson (ankle). Towns helped the Knicks get out to a 10-point lead by halftime, as the sharpshooting center tallied 31 points in the first half while connecting on six threes. He was kept in check in the second half, but Landry Shamet took over the scoring load with 30 of his career-high 36 points in the half to propel New York to its eighth victory of the 2025-26 campaign. Brunson may not travel with the Knicks during their upcoming five-game road trip, and with OG Anunoby leaving in the first quarter of Friday's game due to a hamstring injury, New York will need to lean more heavily on Towns, Shamet, Jordan Clarkson and others to contribute on both ends of the floor. Towns has registered a double-double in each of the first 12 games of the regular season and is averaging 21.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.9 blocks over 33.1 minutes per game this season.

Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said that Lively (knee) will be limited to 15-to-18 minutes during Friday's game against the Clippers, Christian Clark of The Athletic reports.

Lively is making his first appearance since Oct. 26 after missing nine consecutive games with a sprained knee. Given Lively's lengthy layoff, he'll have his minutes kept in check and will likely be brought off the bench while Daniel Gafford draws the start at center.

Davis (calf) won't play Friday against the Clippers.

Friday will mark Davis' eighth consecutive game on the inactive list, and with Dallas' next two games coming as a Sunday-Monday, back-to-back set, it seems unlikely he'll be able to return by the end of Week 4. Naji Marshall, Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford will pick up the slack in Davis' absence.

Sabonis (ribs) will play in Friday's game against the Timberwolves, Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 Sacramento reports.

Sabonis is dealing with a lingering rib injury, but managed to participate in shootaround Friday morning. The star center has now been upgraded to available. After opening the season with seven consecutive double-doubles, Sabonis has failed to hit the milestone in back-to-back games. However, he played only 26 minutes in each contest, once because of foul trouble and once because of a blowout.