Welcome to your midweek guidance for Week Ten! In this post, I identify widely-available players who can help you win your head-to-head matchup. The NBA is not exempt from cold and flu season, as demonstrated by the numerous “out for illness” designations across the L. This is a double edged sword for streaming aficionados like us. On the one hand, there are plenty of opportunities opening up as long as you keep your ear to the injury report scanner (e.g. Moses Moody). On the other hand, this post may be obsolete in two hours.
Schedule Notes: It’s a weird one this week. Of the four teams that play on Thursday – Pelicans, Spurs, Jazz, and Wizards – the Pelicans, Spurs, and Wizards play again on Friday for their final game of the week. The Jazz, on the other hand, do not play until next week after tonight. With two games on Thursday, 14 on Friday, zero on Saturday, and five on Sunday, the only viable streaming strategy is to use Thursday and Sunday.
Four Category Contributors
- Dennis Schroder (Points, Threes, Assists, FT%): The Lakers are in need of Schroder’s offense with Anthony Davis out at least a month. In the four games affected by AD’s injury, Dennis the Menace put up 18.8 points, 2.3 threes, and 4.3 assists (this includes one game in which AD, LeBron James, and Russell Westbrook were all sidelined). He historically shoots around 43 percent from the field, so the 48 percent that he shot in that small sample size will likely come down. However, he figures to remain in the starting lineup for the foreseeable future (Plays Fri, Sun).
- Donte DiVincenzo (Threes, Rebounds, Assists, Steals): Illness torpedoed Donte’s value in the Warriors Tuesday/Wednesday back-to-back, but he should be available for Sunday’s Christmas Day matchup against Memphis. Some of his value will be tied to Andrew Wiggins’ status for that contest, but DiVincenzo should continue to hold a significant role as long as Steph Curry is out. In three starts last week, he averaged 12.3 points, 3 triples, 6.3 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1.3 steals. If someone in your league gave up on him, I’d snap him up (Plays Sun).
Three Category Contributors
- Deni Avdija (Rebounds, Assists, Steals): Injuries to Rui Hachimura and Kristaps Porzingis allowed Avdija to play 36 minutes on Tuesday and collect 16 points, 2 threes, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 block. It’s unlikely that both injured players will return on the front end of a back-to-back, so Avdija should get another solid opportunity (Plays Thurs, Fri).
- Daniel Gafford (Rebounds, Blocks, FG%): He got his first starting nod of the season on Tuesday. Sadly, it wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns on this occasion, as he failed to record a block and went 2/6 from the line. I expect he’ll swat some shots the next time he starts, and that opportunity has a high likelihood of coming on Thursday with Porzingis questionable (Plays Thurs, Fri).
- Zach Collins (Rebounds, Blocks, FG%): Ironically, Collins waited until he was back on the bench to turn in two of his better performances. In his case, feasting on second units may be more advantageous than increased minutes in the starting lineup. In 21 MPG this season, he’s averaging 8.9 points on 53 percent, 5.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1 block (Plays Thurs, Fri).
- Derrick White (Threes, Assists, Blocks): He won’t do your field goal percentage any favors, but few guards block shots as effectively as D. White. An added low-volume Christmas bonus may be his performance from the line, where he is shooting 88 percent on 2 attempts per game this season (Plays Fri, Sun).
Two Category Contributors
- Keita Bates-Diop (Steals, FG%): Keldon Johnson is doubtful for tonight, so KBD should be able to bomb away. In 10 starts, this season, he’s putting up 12.7 points and 1.2 threes on high efficiency from the field. (Plays Thurs, Fri).
- Torrey Craig (Threes, Rebounds): Landry Shamet stole the streaming show in Phoenix on Tuesday, but Craig owns the more secure role in the Suns’ rotation. Josh Okogie’s emergence took a bite out of his production, but he’s dealing with a hip issue and may sit Friday out. Craig is averaging 1.3 triples, 5.3 rebounds, and a sneaky 0.7 blocks on the season (Plays Fri, Sun).
- Grayson Allen / MarJon Beauchamp (Threes, Steals): The Bucks are non-committal with Kris Middleton’s return timeline, stating that he ‘may be back sometime on Milwaukee’s current road trip.’ These two should continue to start until Middleton comes back, with Allen having the higher minutes ceiling (Plays Fri, Sun).
- Austin Reaves (Points, Threes): A questionable tag heading into Friday dampens Reaves’ prospective value, but he can be a spark plug in the hobbled Laker offense if he’s available. In his past five games, he scored 13.2 points and hit 2.2 threes while shooting 56% from the field (Plays Fri, Sun).
Hit me up in the comments with any questions or feedback. Good luck and Merry Christmas!
