Utah Jazz & Minnesota Timberwolves

Spread: Timberwolves -2.5

Total: 227.5

Injuries:

Utah Jazz:

Rudy Gobert – Out

Donovan Mitchell – Out

Trent Forrest – Questionable (ankle)

Minnesota Timberwolves:

D’Angelo Russell – Questionable (shin)

Patrick Beverley – Questionable (ankle)

Josh Okogie – Questionable (quadriceps)

*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

Anthony Edwards, SG/SG (MIN) – Edwards is really coming into his own offensively for Minnesota, and that was amplified on Friday with D’Angelo Russell out.  In the absence of clarity on Russell’s status for tonight, I’m still quite comfortable with Edwards. Over his last five games, Edwards is averaging 27.8 points so it’s not the offense that really gets the boost if Russell is out, but rather the assists as he put up 10 on Friday. There is going to be a lot of offense tonight, and that plays right into Edwards’ strengths. 

Karl-Anthony Towns, C (MIN) – Things should be a little easier tonight for Towns with Gobert out for the Jazz when it comes to securing rebounds. No matter what Towns does this season, it’s almost unfairly difficult to him to emerge from the shadow cast by Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid but it’s also equally as difficult to argue with 24.2 points and 9.4 rebounds he is averaging this season. Finishing with around 45 to 50 DK points is pretty standard for Towns these days and it’s hard to argue with that as we get him at a fair price tonight. 

Util

Mike Conley, PG (UTA) – I wouldn’t exactly call it value, but with Utah’s two biggest stars out tonight, it’s easy to use the Jazz on the way towards a balanced build. With Mitchell out, Conley does get a little boost in Utah’s backcourt, but it’s nothing to overreact too either. By the same token though, Conley is only shooting 39.7% from the field in his last five games while averaging 15.2 points, so there is some upside. 

Hassan Whiteside, C (UTA) – With Gobert out, this almost becomes an obligation. While you aren’t getting a tremendous bargain in Whiteside, there is a decent floor and per dollar upside that is almost unrivaled tonight. Playing time hasn’t been an issue over his last three games at 31 minutes per, but Whiteside hasn’t gone nuts although he is averaging a solid 12.3 points and 9.3 rebounds. 

Jarred Vanderbilt, PF/C (MIN) – Vanderbilt doesn’t need many shots to be a viable DFS option and we appreciate his solid floor. Over his last five games, Vanderbilt has taken just 34 shots, but it also doesn’t get much better than 71% efficiency (60% on the season). With 9.6 points and 8.8 rebounds in that stretch (along with 2.6 steals and 2.4 assists) everyone would sign up for a 30-fantasy point performance. 

Jordan Clarkson, PG/SG (UTA) – As the first guy off the bench for Utah we know that Clarkson is going to play a lot and shoot a lot. The problem is that there are also occasions in which he misses a lot too. After scoring 22 and 26 points, Clarkson followed that up by shooting just 31% from the field and dropping down to 13 points on Friday. There is some boom or bust here, but if the shots are falling, it will be a good night. 

Dart Throws

Rudy Gay, SF/PF (UTA) – The offensive volume that Gay gets really determines his value, but he generally comes close to 20 minutes of playing time and comes up with a nice mix of points and rebounds for the price. 

Jaylen Nowell, PG/SG (MIN) – I’d be targeting Nowell here regardless, but with Beverley likely out and Russell’s status in doubt, there is even more to like with Nowell tonight. Of course, he got that chance on Friday and didn’t produce coming through with just 10 points and one rebound with guards out. My takeaway though is that Nowell picked up four fouls, and was quite efficient offensively in his 15 minutes of action. 

Malik Beasley, SG (MIN) – Beasley benefited from Nowell’s foul woes on Friday from a playing time perspective, but he also took advantage of the situation scoring 26 points in 28 minutes. It’s hard to bank on the shot volume again, but it’s certainly possible and shouldn’t be ignored. 

Jaden McDaniels, SF/PF (MIN) – The good news is that McDaniels averages 26 minutes per game. The bad news, is that in that time he is only averaging 7.8 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. On occasion, McDaniels will surge past those marks, and the steady playing time is at least a step in the right direction.