NBA Player News
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Trendon Watford PF | PHI
76ers' Trendon Watford: Back to bench
Watford won't start Saturday's game against the Nets, Austin Krell of OnPattison.com reports.
With Adem Bona (back) returning to action, Watford will slide to the bench after a spot start Thursday against Detroit. Despite moving to a reserve role, Watford should still see plenty of minutes given all the absences in the 76ers' frontcourt, including Kelly Oubre (elbow), Paul George (suspension), Joel Embiid (oblique), Jabari Walker (illness) and Andre Drummond (back).
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Ochai Agbaji SF | BKN
Nets' Ochai Agbaji: Cleared to play Saturday
Agbaji (ankle) is available for Saturday's game against Philadelphia.
As expected, Agbaji has been upgraded from probable to available, and despite being left out of the rotation the past two games, he could reclaim minutes versus Philadelphia. Egor Demin (foot) and Day'Ron Sharpe (thumb) were recently ruled out for the season, while Nic Claxton (rest), Michael Porter (ankle) and Drake Powell (knee) are all unavailable Saturday, opening up potential minutes for Agbaji.
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Jaylen Clark SG | MIN
Timberwolves' Jaylen Clark: No playing time Friday
Clark (coach's decision) went unused off the bench Friday in the Timberwolves' 127-117 win over the Warriors.
Clark had seen action in each of Minnesota's last four games and averaged 4.0 points in 4.5 minutes, but all of those appearances came in the fourth quarter of contests in which the outcome was already decided. The third-year wing will likely continue to find himself outside of the Minnesota rotation for the foreseeable future.
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Terrence Shannon Jr. SG | MIN
Timberwolves' Terrence Shannon: Moves back outside of rotation
Shannon (coach's decision) went unused off the bench Friday in the Timberwolves' 127-117 win over the Warriors.
Shannon had appeared in each of Minnesota's previous four contests and averaged 7.8 minutes per game, but his spot in the rotation disappeared Friday while the Timberwolves welcomed Ayo Dosunmu (thumb) back from a one-game absence. Now at full health, the Timberwolves are likely to run out a nine-man rotation in most games, but Shannon appears to be the next man up to join the second unit if Minnesota is missing a player at any point.
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Patrick Baldwin Jr. SF | SAC
Kings' Patrick Baldwin: Sitting out Saturday
Baldwin (two-way) is listed out for Saturday's game against the Clippers.
While he remains signed to a two-way contract, Baldwin is eligible to suit up for just eight of the Kings' remaining 15 contests, so he'll be inactive Saturday as the team looks to manage his availability down the stretch. Baldwin hasn't seen action for the Kings since March 5 but was able to get in some run with the G League's Stockton Kings on Friday. He played 38 minutes in Stockton's 123-121 overtime win over the Sioux Falls Skyforce, finishing with 31 points (10-14 FG, 4-6 3Pt, 4-5 FT), 12 rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block.
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Adem Bona PF | PHI
76ers' Adem Bona: Good to go Saturday
Bona (back) will play Saturday against the Nets, Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice.com reports.
With Andre Drummond (back) and Joel Embiid (oblique) out, Bona will start at center and should play heavy minutes. As a starter this season (eight games), Bona has averaged 5.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.7 stocks in 22.5 minutes per game.
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Jabari Walker PF | PHI
76ers' Jabari Walker: Late scratch Saturday
Walker has been ruled out for Saturday's game against the Nets due to an illness, Noah Levick of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.
Walker was not listed on the 76ers' injury report Friday, indicating that the illness is new and will put him in jeopardy of missing the second leg of the Sixers' back-to-back set against the Trail Blazers on Sunday. With Walker sidelined, the 76ers will rely more heavily on the likes of Trendon Watford, Dalen Terry and MarJon Beauchamp.
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Trey Murphy III SF | NO
Pelicans' Trey Murphy: Struggles with shot in loss
Murphy recorded 14 points (5-15 FG, 3-8 3Pt, 1-2 FT), six rebounds and seven assists across 37 minutes during Friday's 107-105 loss to the Rockets.
Murphy had a rough shooting performance, needing 15 shots to score 14 points. This outing snapped a five-game stretch in which Murphy scored at least 21 points each time, but he regularly attempts around 15 shots per game, so the expectation is that this was just a bad shooting performance for the five-year forward. After all, Murphy is shooting 45.1 percent from the floor and 47.4 percent from three-point range since the All-Star break.
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Zion Williamson PF | NO
Pelicans' Zion Williamson: Scores 21 points in loss
Williamson produced 21 points (7-10 FG, 7-9 FT), five rebounds, one assist and two blocks over 34 minutes during Friday's 107-105 loss to the Rockets.
Williamson was effective from the floor and posted a solid stat line, although that has been the trend of late. Since missing the March 1 loss to the Clippers due to a sprained right ankle, Williamson has reached the 20-point mark in four of his last six appearances, avearging 21.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in that stretch.