Welcome to your midweek guidance for Week 23! In this post, I identify widely-available players who can help you win your head-to-head matchup. This will serve as my final 2022-23 post. Thank you for your loyalty and engagement throughout the season. If it weren’t for you, I’d simply be doing this for my health, which consistently plays second fiddle to my dependence on Mountain Dew and California Burritos. So I guess that means I wouldn’t be doing this at all if it weren’t for you.
Schedule Notes: This is a very short post due to the schedule being clobbered on Friday and Sunday – 13 games each day. Your lineup is likely already maxed out for those days, so you should conserve your adds for streaming on Thursday and Saturday. The Nuggets (Thurs, Fri, Sun) are the sole team with three remaining games. The Heat only play one more time, but it’s on the low-volume Saturday, so they’re still in the mix for streaming. The Pelicans have to best schedule with games on both Thursday and Saturday. Players on the Bucks and Celtics should also receive some consideration, as they both play tonight as part of a back-to-back.
Yes, there are games being played beyond Sunday, but any of you maniacs still playing are just as capable as I am at making predictions during what promises to be a very turbulent final week. I think I’d need to capitulate and get on Twitter in order to keep up with it all. PB on Twitter … very scary thought indeed. That said, these are the players I’m watching and adding to close out the season.
Two Category Contributors (i.e. everyone)
- Bruce Brown (Assists, Steals): Earlier in the season, I cringed whenever the Mavericks had the best end-of-week schedule due to the lack of viable 12-team options in Dallas. The Nuggets are almost just as bad, thanks to the massive drop off beyond the starting five. That being said, you need to play the Brown Note if he’s still available. He gives you a shot at three or more dimes and a 1/1/1 every time he’s out there, and he’ll be the first option to see increased minutes if anyone on Denver rests for the back-to-back (Plays Thurs, Sat, Sun).
- Mike Muscala (Threes, Rebounds): This pickup is contingent upon the Williams bros, Rob and Grant, being out tonight and/or tomorrow. If Grant is in and Rob is out, however, then Grant (Threes, Rebounds) is the add. Man, I need a decision matrix for all of the possibilities! Back to Muscala – he won’t start with Al Horford in the lineup, but he could garner 20+ minutes and be good for a triple and five boards. That might be enough if you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel on a low-volume day (Plays Thurs, Fri).
- Josh Richardson (Threes, Assists): Gone are the days of Richardson starting and playing 30+ minutes, but he has a lot of value with the Pels possessing the best overall Week 23 schedule. If he’s already off the menu, then Larry Nance Jr. (Rebounds, Steals) and Naji Marshall are next in the pecking order on a healthy New Orleans squad (Plays Thurs, Sat).
- Grayson Allen (Threes, FT%): Having already played 70 games this season, Grayson is one of the more reliable Bucks in terms of his affinity for actually taking the floor. He’s almost as durable as Brook Lopez (74 games played to date) … who saw that coming? I’m expecting Grayson to bounce back from Wednesday’s abomination against the Pacers. He may receive a boost if the Bucks rest any starters. Pay attention to that injury report (Plays Thurs, Sun).
- Caleb Martin (Rebounds, Steals): His recent struggles don’t negate the fact that he played 27 MPG in his last 6 games and will have utility when he turns the shooting around. If you can’t get to him, look down the bench to Max Strus or Gabe Vincent for three-point production (Plays Saturday).
Hit me up in the comments with any questions or feedback. Good luck!
