Washington Wizards & Utah Jazz
Spread: Jazz (-10.5)
Total: 220.5
Washington Wizards Injuries
None (For now, we don’t want to jinx anything)
Utah Jazz Injuries
Donovan Mitchell – Questionable (Illness)
**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
Donovan Mitchell, PG/SG (UTA) – You have to go where the slate takes you, and Mitchell is as good as they come tonight. Mitchell didn’t grab a rebound in either of his last two games before Friday, and just five assists per game, the bulk of the value here comes from what he does offensively. It is good then that Mitchell is averaging 24.8 points per game this season and that mark jumps to 28.3 in his last four games (entering action last night). I know I might not have made the best case for Mitchell, but he is the best player on the slate tonight. The questionable tag popping up after he dealt with a stomach virus during last night’s game isn’t great, but he still scored 27 points while grabbing five rebounds.
Rudy Gobert, C (UTA) – With Utah beating the Clippers with ease on Wednesday, Gobert’s services were only needed for 27 minutes, but it didn’t matter as he was quite efficient. The center scored 20 points for the second straight game, and it came with 17 rebounds as Gobert showed off the upper level of his upside. Generally, it’s about a 10-point swing for Gobert on a nightly basis as he is averaging 15.3 points and 14.7 rebounds per game this season and he is one of the more reliable options there is. Last night, that dependability continued with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
Bradley Beal, PG/SG (WAS) – It’s no secret that Washington has been struggling as of late, Thursday was no different, and tonight’s point spread is another example of that. Once again, we have the concern of a blowout here, but Beal did play 31 minutes on Thursday and score 26 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists. Beal was efficient making 11 of his 18 field goal attempts but it would be nice if he got to the line a little more and added more production than just his offense. Beal has the star power and the upside, but the price is high so tread carefully as this isn’t a slam dunk.
Utility
Jordan Clarkson, PG/SG (UTA) – The price is right for Clarkson here as he consistently plays around 25 to 30 minutes a game off the bench for Utah. We saw the best of Clarkson on Wednesday as he scored 21 points in 29 minutes while shooting eight of 14 from the field. I expect the game flow to be similar tonight and that means double-double digit shot attempts once again for Clarkson as he also repeats last performance of 21 points and four rebounds.
Bojan Bogdanovic, SF/PF (UTA) – Bogdanovic is a similar player to Clarkson except he starts for Utah and might not be as streaky. At 17 points per game, he is a little more consistent, and proficient, on the offensive side with the bulk of his production coming from behind the arc.
Mike Conley, PG (UTA) – For the fifth straight game, Conley made just four field goal attempts, and over his last four games the point guard was averaging 10 points and 5.5 assists per game before last night. While it’s not going to jump off the page at anyone, it has been good for an average of 25 DK points for Conley which is solid production if it fits into your lineup. Just keep in mind that it likely won’t get much better than his 18 points, six rebounds and six assists last night.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, SG/SF (WAS) – In 28 minutes on Thursday, Caldwell-Pope only managed nine points and one rebound, but the value is there from a price perspective and he’s going to play around 30-minutes per night. The majority of Caldwell-Pope’s value does come from his offense, and at minimum he will get about 10 shots tonight.
Montrezl Harrell, C (WAS) – Despite coming off the bench, Harrell is the big man to target for Washington as he plays around 25 minutes a night. Harrell is coming off a solid 12-point, seven rebound performance in 26 minutes and it’s fair to expect a similar effort tonight.
Dart Throws
Raul Neto, PG (WAS) – No Spencer Dinwiddie on Thursday helped Neto out offensively as he made five of his 11 shot attempts on his way to 11 points. Even with Dinwiddie back tonight, Neto should still play around 20 minutes and that is enough to return some value.
Deni Avdija, SF/PF (WAS) – Regardless of who is active or not for Washington, Avdija is generally around 20 to 25 minutes a night, but his offensive output does have some variability. However, with 15 and 14 points respectively in his last two games, the shots have been falling for Avdija and the price is right to see if he can keep it up as Washington is always searching for offense.
Rudy Gay, SF/PF, (UTA) – Gay isn’t going to go nuts anymore offensively or like up the scoreboard from a usage standpoint, but he has carved out a solid role with Utah playing about 20 minutes a game. Occasionally the shot volume will jump and he can still hit double figures if given the chance, but he does enough to provide a solid return on investment.
Hassan Whiteside, C (UTA) – Whiteside has proven to be quite efficient with his limited minutes, but you have to accept that sometimes (like last night) you are going get an eight-point, four rebound, three turnover performance. At the price though, Whiteside is worth the risk depending on how the rest of your lineup build goes.