Friday’s NBA Injury Report: Betting, DFS Impact of Jrue Holiday, Ricky Rubio Injuries

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

• Toronto Raptors at New Orleans Pelicans: 8 p.m. ET
• Utah Jazz at Memphis Grizzlies: 8 p.m. ET

Note: The information below is as of 1:30 p.m. ET. For up-to-the-minute news and analysis, check out our live news feed and follow us on Twitter.

Pelicans SG Jrue Holiday (Abdominal) Is Out, SF E'Twaun Moore (Quad) Is Out, C Jahlil Okafor (Ankle) Is Questionable

Injury background: Holiday was diagnosed with a lower abdominal strain after undergoing an MRI on Thursday and will be re-evaluated in 7-10 days. Friday's absence will mark the first game he has missed due to injury since December 2016.

Moore is dealing with a left quad contusion and will also miss at least 7-10 days, while Okafor is questionable due to a sprained right ankle.

Tonight's impact: There is no word on who will replace Holiday in the starting lineup, but candidates include Frank Jackson, Ian Clark, Darius Miller, and Stanley Johnson.

Anthony Davis remains restricted to around 20 minutes and Holiday and Julius Randle have accounted for more than 40% of the team's points in the past 10 games. Davis has seen his salary drop to a season-low $6,600 on DraftKings, and he'll make for an intriguing option as he can still reach value in limited playing time.

Elfrid Payton will likely have to pick up a larger share of the offensive responsibilities, and he has benefitted from a team-high +5.5% usage rate increase with Holiday off the court this season, per the NBA On/Off tool.

With a price tag of just $5,000 on DK, Payton ranks as one of the top overall plays in Friday's nine-game slate.

Davis and Randle have also seen a favorable usage rate bump without Holiday this season, and Randle has exceeded 49 DK points in four of his last six games.

The Pelicans are currently 7.5-point underdogs and Raptors coach Nick Nurse stated that everyone is expected to play outside of Fred VanVleet (thumb).

Since Davis has been on a minutes limit, the Pelicans are 17.6 points better per 100 possessions with Holiday on the court than off the court, suggesting that Vegas isn't properly weighing in his likely absence.

Jazz PG Ricky Rubio (Hip) Is Doubtful, PG Raul Neto (Hamstring) Is Out

Injury background: Rubio has popped up on the injury report with a tight left hip and is doubtful to suit up on Friday. He missed one game last week due to a strained right hamstring.

Neto will miss his fifth consecutive game with a tight left hamstring. Dante Exum (ankle) remains sidelined but is set to be re-evaluated later in the day.

Tonight's impact: With a thin backcourt, Royce O'Neale is the likely option to enter the starting lineup with Donovan Mitchell sliding to point guard. In 10 prior starts this season, O'Neale has averaged 8.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 31.3 minutes per game. 

With all three injured point guards off the court, Mitchell and Joe Ingles have seen the largest increases in assist rate. The duo combined for 15 assists when Rubio was sidelined last week, and both players are on the verge of cash game consideration on Friday.

O'Neale is priced at the minimum on FanDuel at $3,500 and makes sense for a punt option in a format where the lowest score can be dropped. Rudy Gobert carries a 98% Bargain Rating on DK, but Memphis ranks second in Defensive Efficiency against opposing centers this season.

The Grizzlies also play at the league's slowest pace, and the slate-worst 209.5-point total offers little upside in DFS.

Utah has a worse Offensive Rating and a better Defensive Rating with Rubio off the court this season, signaling value on the under. The Grizzlies rank 29th in Offensive Rating while the Jazz hold the league's third-best defense, but the total has already dropped a whopping four points.