NBA Player News

Towns ended Saturday's 123-95 victory over the Jazz with 25 points (7-14 FG, 2-6 3Pt, 9-10 FT), seven rebounds, one assist and two steals across 32 minutes.

Towns has been playing very well this season and continues to produce on both ends of the court. His rebounding numbers have regressed a bit, which was to be expected given he shares the frontcourt with Rudy Gobert, but he has looked good as a scoring threat. Towns has scored 19 or more points in three of his five appearances, and this 25-point outing was his highest-scoring game of the campaign.

Gobert closed Saturday's 123-95 victory over the Jazz with 11 points (5-10 FG, 1-2 FT), 10 rebounds, one assist and four blocks across 28 minutes.

Gobert had to deal with Walker Kessler, but he outplayed the second-year big man and finished with a double-double despite holding a secondary role in the offensive scheme. Gobert seems to be adjusting better to his role compared to his 2022-23 struggles, and the veteran has four double-doubles across five outings while racking up double-digit boards in every appearance this season.

Nurkic finished Saturday's 112-100 loss to Philadelphia with 11 points (4-14 FG, 1-6 3Pt, 2-4 FT), nine rebounds, five assists, one block and one steal across 23 minutes.

Nurkic operated in a far larger role Saturday after attempting just five shots Thursday. His involvement was a focal point for Phoenix amid absences for Devin Booker (foot) and Bradley Beal (back). Shooting 38.0 percent from the field and 20.0 percent from beyond the arc through six games marks a distinct failure to capitalize on the enlarged opportunity, but compiling a 17:4 AST:TO ratio over his last four games is a silver lining indicative of the role that Nurkic can have when Phoenix is healthy.

Kessler closed with four points (2-3 FG), four rebounds and three blocks across 22 minutes during Saturday's 123-95 loss to the Timberwolves.

Kessler showed promise as a rookie, averaging 9.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, but he has regressed drastically in the early stages of his sophomore year. Kessler has acknowledged his struggles after a summer in which he represented Team USA in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, but the reality is that he has been delivering subpar outings every time he steps on the court. Kessler has scored in double digits just once this season and has grabbed 10 or more rebounds just twice across seven contests.

Sengun closed with 15 points (7-13 FG, 1-3 3Pt), nine rebounds, six assists and two steals over 34 minutes during Saturday's 107-89 win over Sacramento.

Sengun engaged in quite a battle with one of the best big men in the league, Domantas Sabonis, and while he couldn't prevent the Kings star from finishing with a double-double, Sengun posted excellent numbers in his own right again. The big man has now scored at least 15 points in four straight contests, and even though he only has one double-double to show, Sengun has racked up at least seven boards four times while also tallying six dimes on four occasions.

Embiid had 26 points (9-18 FG, 3-3 3Pt, 5-5 FT), 11 rebounds, three assists and one block over 31 minutes during Saturday's 112-100 win over the Suns.

Embiid is averaging 30.8 points over his last four contests. He attempted a season low of shot attempts and free throws Saturday but executed at a high level. He's a boom candidate in Philadelphia's next game against Washington on Monday.

Sabonis finished with 11 points (5-10 FG, 0-2 3Pt, 1-4 FT), 15 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal over 31 minutes during Saturday's 107-89 loss to the Rockets.

Sabonis went toe-to-toe with Alperen Sengun in a game where the entire Sacramento starting unit struggled, and while Sabonis had a decent stat line on the surface, he ended up being outplayed by Sengun when common sense dictates it should've been the other way around. Sabonis will continue to rack up stats every game and will remain valuable for fantasy purposes, but he needs to step up and be more of a leader when the team struggles, especially in games where De'Aaron Fox (ankle) is out. However, Sabonis now has five double-doubles in five outings while dishing out five or more assists in all but one of those performances.

Kornet mustered 11 points (5-5 FG, 1-1 FT), three rebounds and one assist over 15 minutes in Saturday's 124-114 road win over the Nets.

Kornet took advantage of a Nets squad that chose to play small ball almost the entire game due to center Nic Claxton (ankle) being out. Kornet can thank Jrue Holiday and others for some sweet inside passes off pick-and-rolls, which helped the reserve center shoot a perfect 5-for-5 from the field. Kornet was the only Celtics reserve player with a positive (plus-7) point differential. He could see significant minutes but face a much better interior defense on the road Monday versus Minnesota and its impressive frontcourt.

Jokic (back) is available and will start against the Bulls on Saturday.

Jokic has yet to miss a game this season and wasn't expected to do so Saturday despite dealing with low-back pain, so his presence in this game isn't surprising. The superstar big man is averaging 27.3 points, 12.2 rebounds and 7.7 assists in 33.7 minutes across his first six appearances.

Carter (hand) will undergo surgery to repair a fractured third metacarpal in his left hand and will be re-evaluated in three weeks, the Magic announced Saturday.

The fact that the injury occurred in Carter's non-shooting hand will allow him to have a quicker recovery, but his long-term status remains to be determined. Moritz Wagner has been serving as Carter's direct backup and is the top candidate to replace him in the starting lineup, with Goga Bitadze likely to experience an uptick in minutes as well.