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UPDATE: Aug. 8, 5:34 p.m. — Both Westbrook and Gordon are listed as out on the injury report Saturday evening, as expected. So the Rockets will go another game without Russ and Gordon. That means we can fire up Harden in GPPs. There’s more on this below.
Houston Rockets PG Russell Westbrook (quad) and SG Eric Gordon (ankle) are both listed as doubtful to play in Sunday’s game vs. the Sacramento Kings.
Coach D'Antoni says Russell Westbrook and Eric Gordon are "doubtful" for tomorrow, but most likely out. However, they should be able to play some games before the playoffs.
— Cayleigh Griffin (@cayleighgriffin) August 8, 2020
Westbrook missed Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers due to a sore quad. Both him and Gordon seem unlikely to give it a go on Sunday in a game the Rockets should win pretty easily. James Harden went hero ball against a Lakers team without LeBron James. Let’s take a look at how to approach the Rockets again.
Fantasy basketball and betting impact
So with Russ and Gordon out, we can go back to the Harden well in GPPs. His price should be back in the $12K range on Sunday’s slate. That’s fine as long as the usage is there. We know Houston needs wins to keep pace in the West and the Kings are also not out of it yet. This game could be more competitive than people think.
As far as values, Ben McLemore played well agains the Lakers. Austin Rivers isn’t any good but he’ll be cheap. You’d think Robert Covington and P.J. Tucker play better against a weak Kings defense than against the Lakers. Really, the rotation for Houston is tight and there will be plenty of minutes for everyone.
We’ll check back in for the betting side once we see some lines on Sunday morning.