Boston Celtics at Phoenix Suns – 10 pm ET

Spread: Suns -4.5

Total: 213

 

Injuries:

Boston Celtics:

Phoenix Suns:

 

**Please note that players not listed below are not necessarily a complete fade and any player listed can certainly be used as the MVP/Captain. These are merely suggestions for players to use when setting Showdown lineups.

 

MVP/CPT

Jayson Tatum, PF (BOS) – Tatum has proven to be up to the task of Boston’s go to option on offense, and he is working on a streak of five straight games with at least 50 DK points. He’s going to take at least 20 shots a game, and if you shoot around 50%, things are going to be pretty favorable. However, a good amount of Tatum’s recent success has been his proficiency on the boards with three games of double-digit rebounds in his last five. He is not only the most expensive, but the option tonight with the greatest upside.

Chris Paul, PG (PHO) – The prices and the injuries tonight allow for pricing that gives you perhaps a little more lineup flexibility than we are accustomed to seeing on showdown slates. With Booker sidelined, more of the usage and backcourt scoring will fall to Paul, and he has proven in the past to be more than capable. Even better for Paul, the Suns have had three straight days off while the Celtics have been out on the west coast all week. Without Booker on Monday, Paul took 18 shots (making half of them) as he went for 21 points to go along with 10 assists. I’ll take a repeat of that tonight. 

 

Util

Dennis Schroder, PG (BOS) – This is contingent on Schroder’s ankle allowing him to take the court, but it didn’t hold him back on Wednesday when he initially tweaked it. Considering Schroder scored 19 points to go along with eight assists in 38 minutes of action, I wouldn’t expect there to be a problem. 

Deandre Ayton, C (PHO) – The fact that Ayton’s questionable tag is linked to an illness that isn’t COVID is a good thing, but it is also something we need to be aware of for tonight. With just 14 points and nine rebounds, along with five turnovers, Ayton failed to take advantage of Sacramento on Monday but the center is averaging a double-double for the season (16.3 points and 11.1 rebounds per game). 

Al Horford, C (BOS) – After Horford played 35 minutes on Wednesday following 30 minutes of run the night before, it doesn’t appear that we should be concerned with his health or stamina. While the offense was down (11 points), Horford did enough across the board (seven rebounds and seven assists) that he still returned solid value. At this point, the 30-35 fantasy point mark seems to be a nice baseline for Horford with the occasional game with a little more offense. 

Marcus Smart, SG (BOS) – Turnovers continue to be a problem here, but Smart still filled the stat sheet on Wednesday with 16 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and four steals. If Schroder ends up being sidelined then I would elevate Smart to the captain tier, but if not, he is still a solid option. 

 

Dart Throws

JaVale McGee, C (PHO) – The price is right here. Frank Kaminsky is sidelined and McGee has a regular role that gives him around 15 minutes of playing time so he’d be on this list regardless. But if Ayton is out, then chalk city here as McGee is averaging 10 points and seven rebounds per game and that would be higher if he got more run. 

Landry Shamet, SG (PHO) – An injured Booker means Shamet moves into the starting lineup but it hasn’t translated into a slam dunk success. Shamet can score in double digits, a high of 14-points over this recent stretch, but generally represents the majority of his performance. At this point, Shamet isn’t exactly free, but 20 DK points for the price could be worse considering all it takes here is a few made three-pointers for him to get hot. 

Cameron Payne, PG/SG (PHO) – Payne has carved out a nice role for himself off the bench, but he’s not consistently featured as a scorer. There is some dependability baked in here, and his usage has seen a slight increase with Booker sidelined, but there isn’t as much upside here. 

Romeo Langford, SF (BOS) – We get a nice cheap option in Langford, but you get you pay for as well. Should Schroder be sidelined there might be a few more minutes up for grabs, but if not, you are looking at like 10 or 15 and something close to his 4.8 points and three rebounds per game.