Wednesday’s NBA Injury Report: Betting, DFS Impact of Anthony Davis, Zach LaVine, Otto Porter Injuries

Wednesday night's NBA slate features nine games with injuries and questionable players. We'll analyze the following two:

• New Orleans Pelicans at Orlando Magic: 7 p.m. ET
• Washington Wizards at Chicago Bulls: 8 p.m. ET

Note: The information below is as of 2 p.m. ET. For up-to-the-minute news and analysis, check out our live news feed and follow us on Twitter.

Pelicans C Anthony Davis (Personal) Is Out

Injury background: Davis initially made the trip to Orlando but returned home for personal reasons and will miss Wednesday's game against the Magic.

Jrue Holiday (abdominal) and E'Twaun Moore (quad) remain sidelined without a specific timetable for a return.

Tonight's impact: Wednesday will mark the fourth absence for Davis this month, and he has yet to play in three consecutive games as he continues to rest in back-to-backs. Jahlil Okafor has started each of the previous 14 games without Davis and will likely draw the start once again against Nikola Vucevic.

However, Okafor has failed to reach his salary-based expectation in each of his last five starts. Frank Jackson has replaced Holiday in the starting lineup and has averaged 13.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 13 starts this season.

In two games without Davis, Holiday and Moore this season, Julius Randle has led the team with a +8.9% usage rate increase and 54.88 DraftKings points per game, per the NBA On/Off tool. Randle still isn't fully priced on DK at $8,300, and he'll remain a strong option in all formats on Wednesday.

Elfrid Payton has been another primary beneficiary of increased rates, posting a triple-double in five consecutive games. His recent surge has driven his salary to $9,500 on FanDuel, but also remains affordable on DK with more upside due to the triple-double bonus. Over his past 10 games, he's excelled with a FantasyLabs +14.13 DK Plus/Minus.

Cheick Diallo will benefit from an increased role off the bench and has averaged 1.22 DK points per minute over the last month. With a low salary on both sites, he'll make for an appealing value option.

The Magic carry the league's second-best Defensive Rating and rank 28th in pace since the All-Star break, resulting in a suboptimal spot for the Pelicans.

Davis and Holiday are easily the team's best offensive and defensive players, and New Orleans has predictably lost both games without them by double-digits. The current 9-point spread (see live odds here) still doesn't appear to account for the significantly negative impact of their absence.

Bulls SG Zach LaVine (Thigh) Is Probable, SF Otto Porter (Shoulder) Is Out

Injury background: LaVine popped up on the injury report with a right thigh contusion but has been upgraded to probable after going through shootaround.

Porter has been ruled out due to a shoulder injury he suffered on Sunday that also led to his absence in Monday's win.

Tonight's impact: Shaq Harrison entered the starting lineup in place of Porter on Monday and played 32 minutes. He was able to record 22.1 FD points in large part due to steals being worth three points.

LaVine was limited to just 10 field goal attempts, Lauri Markkanen continued to shoot worse than 50%, and 10 players all logged at least 17 minutes. The Bulls will draw another favorable matchup with the highest game total (230) in Wednesday's nine-game slate, as both teams rank in the bottom-six in Defensive Rating this season.

With Porter off the court since the trade deadline, Markkanen has led the team with 1.16 DK points per minute. His prolonged shooting slump has kept him from reaching his salary-based expectation in eight of his last nine games. Both sites have dropped his price and he'll face a Wizards' team that ranks dead last in Defensive Efficiency against opposing power forwards this season.

LaVine and Robin Lopez also profile as exceptional tournament options, and Lopez has averaged a team-high +10.2 DK Plus/Minus in the three games Porter missed since joining the Bulls.

The Bulls have actually performed worse at home this season with poor defensive metrics, while the Wizards have struggled more on the road. The previous matchup between both teams resulted in a 259-point total, suggesting that value can still be found on the over on Wednesday.