Lively II will miss a third straight game, and Washington will miss his second in a row. Maxi Kleber is also doubtful, so Daniel Gafford should see the lion's share of minutes at center against Phoenix. Naji Marshall should continue to start in Washington's place, and both he and Gafford are worthwhile streams for this matchup.
Washington played 35 minutes in Monday's loss to the Pacers, but he'll miss at least one game with a knee injury. Naji Marshall is the player most likely to move into the starting lineup, with the move giving his fantasy value a welcome boost.
While Washington's scoring output has been slightly inconsistent to begin the season, the defensive production has boosted his value. Counting Thursday's six defensive contributions, PJ's averaging 2.0 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. That production is why Washington's currently a top-40 player despite shooting 43.1% from the field and 25.0% from the foul line.
While Washington has still been an effective defender for Dallas this year, his first two games consisted of more shooting struggles. His deep-range issues continued in this game, but he made up for it by scoring in different ways and producing a ton of defensive stats. Washington may have had some consistency issues as a shooter in the past, but he isn't a 19% shooter from deep. That will improve as the season goes on, but he'll make his money in fantasy hoops on the defensive end, as he did in this game.
The good news for Washington was that, even with the addition of Klay Thompson to a lineup that already boasted Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, shot attempts weren't an issue. The problem for PJ was his accuracy or lack thereof. Washington scored 11 points on 11 attempts, shooting 2-of-7 from beyond the arc. Having more opportunity to play around the basket could help Washington improve the field-goal percentage, but that isn't easy in this lineup.