Fantasy basketball tips and projections for Friday - ESPN

Injury news rocked the NBA again on Thursday as it was announced that Karl-Anthony Towns would miss the rest of the regular season due to a torn meniscus in his left knee and that Victor Wembanyama would be out the rest of the week with a sprained ankle. Add in Jalen Johnson's sprained ankle and this has not been a fun week to be a fantasy basketball manager.

But with every bit of bad news, there's usually some good news to go along with it, which is where we will focus looking ahead to Friday's eight-game slate. Two teams heavily impacted by injuries will face each other on ESPN tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The late primetime game on ESPN will feature Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks visiting the Los Angeles Lakers.

Naz Reid appears to be the fill-in fantasy managers will want to target for the loss of Towns. Reid had 13 points, eight rebounds, a steal and a block in a tough win against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night. Also it's safe to expect Anthony Edwards to go nuts the rest of the season. He returned from an early trip to the locker room to finish with 44 points and the win. Edwards is a warrior who refuses to let anything stand in his way of providing a nightly show in the NBA. He should get a draft-day boost in future fantasy leagues simply because he refuses to miss games.

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The Cavaliers will be without Donovan Mitchell (ankle) and Evan Mobley (ankle) once again so we can look for Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen to step up, with guys like Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade potentially worth a look. I don't really trust any of