NBA Player News

Collins (ankle) progressed to 3-on-3 work Wednesday and said he's optimistic he can return before the end of San Antonio's five-game road trip, which ends Monday in Philadelphia, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News reports.

Collins hasn't played since Dec. 29 due to a right ankle sprain. His next chance to suit up will come Friday in Charlotte, but that's the first half of a back-to-back set, so it seems his earliest return date will likely be Monday's matchup against the 76ers. Victor Wembanyama has been starting at center in Collins' absence, but the Rookie of the Year candidate prefers to play power forward, so it'll be interesting to see how the lineup shakes out when Collins is back in the mix.

Porzingis (knee) won't play in Wednesday's game versus the Spurs.

Porzingis has been downgraded from questionable to out Wednesday due to right knee inflammation. Al Horford and Luke Kornet will likely receive increased playing time in his absence. Porzingis' next chance to suit up is Friday's matchup with Denver.

Drummond is listed as probable for Thursday's game versus the Raptors due to right lower back spasms.

Drummond has yet to miss a game this season and isn't expected to do so Thursday despite dealing with back spasms. The veteran big man will likely continue to serve as Chicago's backup center to Nikola Vucevic if he's upgraded to available.

Bagley (trade pending) isn't on the injury report for Thursday's game versus the Knicks.

Bagley appears set to make his Wizards debut Thursday after being acquired from the Pistons on Sunday. Bagley will likely serve as Washington's backup center to Daniel Gafford (concussion), but Bagley could start against the Knicks due to Gafford being out for the contest.

Muscala (trade pending) will be available for Wednesday's game against Minnesota.

Muscala and Danilo Gallinari will both be available after their trade from Washington was finalized. It remains to be seen what kind of role Muscala will have, but his floor spacing could be a valuable addition to the frontcourt.

Gafford has entered the concussion protocol and won't play Thursday against the Knicks, Josh Robbins of The Athletic reports.

Gafford had a head-on-head collision during Monday's loss to the Pistons and will miss at least one game as a result. Assuming Marvin Bagley (trade pending) is cleared to play Thursday, he could see heavy minutes right away in what would be his Washington debut.

Embiid chipped in 41 points (13-22 FG, 3-6 3Pt, 12-15 FT), seven rebounds, 10 assists and one block across 39 minutes during Tuesday's 126-121 win over Denver.

Matched up against fellow perennial MVP candidate Nikola Jokic, Embiid came out on top as he scored 40 or more points for the second straight game and the seventh time in 13 contests since the beginning of December. While the 29-year-old center has had trouble staying healthy during that time, he's been dominant when on the court, averaging 38.8 points, 11.9 points, 5.4 assists, 2.0 blocks, 1.4 threes and 1.2 steals over that 13-game stretch while shooting 58.2 percent from the floor and 41.9 percent from beyond the arc.

Jokic racked up 25 points (11-20 FG, 0-2 3Pt, 3-4 FT), 19 rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal in 38 minutes during Tuesday's 126-121 loss to the 76ers.

In a clash of titans against Joel Embiid, Jokic came up short and tied his season low in assists, but Denver's perennial MVP candidate did record his fourth straight double-double and 35th of the season in 41 games. That puts him one back of Domantas Sabonis for the NBA lead in that category. Jokic hasn't been quite as consistent as usual over the last month, but he's still averaging 22.9 points, 10.8 boards, 8.6 assists, 1.2 steals, 1.1 blocks and 0.8 threes over the last 16 games while shooting 67.3 percent from the floor.

Sabonis logged 21 points (9-11 FG, 1-1 3Pt, 2-4 FT), 12 rebounds, 11 assists and one block over 39 minutes during Tuesday's 119-117 loss to Phoenix.

Sabonis missed just two shots from the field and notched his fifth triple-double across nine January contests, but his contributions were not enough to avoid the Kings' epic meltdown in the fourth quarter. Regardless of the team's struggles, Sabonis has been one of the best players in fantasy this season and has consistently delivered first-round value aided by the fact he's now notched a double-double or a triple-double in each of his appearances dating back to Dec. 2, which represents a 23-game run.

Nurkic contributed 10 points (4-5 FG, 2-2 FT), 15 rebounds, three assists and one block over 27 minutes during Tuesday's 119-117 victory over Sacramento.

Nurkic has been a steady presence down low for the Suns and has started every game outside of the two contests he missed in December due to personal reasons. He has five double-doubles over his last 10 games, averaging 13.5 points and 11.2 rebounds per game in that span.