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UPDATE: Aug. 4, 1:13 p.m. — Williams is expected to make his NBA bubble debut vs. the Suns, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday afternoon.
Clippers guard Lou Williams has cleared his 10-day quarantine and will make his NBA restart debut today against the Suns, his agent Wallace Prather tells @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 4, 2020
Fantasy basketball and betting impact
Lou Will comes in at $5K on DraftKings. We don’t know how much he will play and we’ve seen coaches ease players back into action in these scenarios. The Clippers can’t get the No. 1 seed anymore now that the Lakers have clinched. Williams may play around 15-20 minutes, so at this price he isn’t a terrible GPP play given it’s news right before lock. His ownership should be pretty low.
This shouldn’t move the line all that much. The Clippers favored by 8.5 points and it could get up to double digits before tip-off. Getting in now may be OK, but don’t sleep on the Suns. If the Clippers can’t keep up on offense, Phoenix could hang around.
Los Angeles Clippers PG Lou Williams (NWT) is listed as questionable to play in Tuesday’s game vs. the Phoenix Suns. PF Montrezl Harrell (NWT) has been ruled out.
Lou Williams is listed as questionable to play tomorrow coming out of quarantine. Montrezl Harrell remains out and is not with the team.
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) August 3, 2020
Williams infamously left the bubble to attend a funeral and went to pick up his signature wings from the popular Atlanta strip club Magic City. That forced the NBA to quarantine Williams for 10 days, so he was ruled out for the first two games of the seeding round. Harrell is still not with the team and remains out.
Fantasy basketball and betting impact
Lou Will’s return would spell the end of Reggie Jackson as a strong value play, depending on how many minutes Williams is allotted. If Lou Will has no restrictions, he’s a great play. If Williams remains out, Jackson remains viable. With Harrell still out, that should mean more Patrick Patterson and JaMychal Green off the bench. Marcus Morris isn’t a bad option at PF either. The Suns don’t really have anyone down low who can defend well; Phoenix is still without Aron Baynes.
It’s not a bad idea to see what the line on this game is and get in on the spread or ML before the Lou Williams news. Either that, or be on top of the news so you can react before the lines shift drastically. The Suns are playing good basketball, but the Clippers still have Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. If Lou Will is back, fire up the the over whatever that may be.
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