The Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs are one of three featured Showdown contests to choose from Wednesday night. The Jazz have been one of the best teams in the NBA, having won 16 of their past 18 games. They’re coming off a rare loss at home to the Rockets, allowing 126 points, something we don’t often see from one of the top defenses in the NBA. Fortunately, there’s no one on the Spurs who can go off for 50 points like Eric Gordon. Or is there? DeMar DeRozan maybe? Chances are that won’t happen, but we could see more offense than defense tonight. Let’s take a look at how to approach tonight’s Showdown contest.
Who should you play in the Captain’s slot?
Tony Bradley ($3,000)
You’re probably going “Seriously? Tony Bradley???” but hear me out really fast. I like the idea of fitting in a bunch of the top players in the UTIL spots, so using Bradley as the Captain frees up a lot of salary. It’s the classic “Stars and Scrubs” approach, which I kind of like for most of the Showdown contests tonight. Bradley should see at least 10-12 minutes and if generally productive when he’s on the court, averaging 6.1 rebounds in just 12.9 minutes per game in January.
Who should I stack with Bradley?
Rudy Gobert ($11,400)
Like I said, the idea here is to fit in all of the high-priced players, so Gobert is a good option. Donovan Mitchell ($10,000) and DeMar DeRozan ($10,600) are both players we want to fit in as well. So between all three of them, that should give you a pretty good floor for your lineup. The Spurs may be without LaMarcus Aldridge, so if that’s the case, Gobert and Bradley should clean the glass all night. Gobert is on a 10-game double-double streak, which has a decent shot of being extended later.
Where can I find value in the contest?
Mike Conley ($4,400)
Conley has been back from his hamstring injury for five games now and has played more minutes in each contest. The fact he’s getting north of 20 minutes is encouraging and I think at this price, we have a player who could exceed expectations. Conley is getting decent usage off the bench and the Spurs struggle to defend guards. I also think if the game is lopsided in favor of the Jazz, then Conley should get run in garbage time to get his game back a bit.
Who should I fade?
Joe Ingles ($7,000)
Ingles seems a bit overpriced when you look at what he’s done recently. Ingles has failed to score in double figures in four of the past five games. He’s in a bit of a shooting slump, and while the matchup is decent, I think there are players above and below Ingles in price that are more appealing. Ingles even fouled out last game against the Rockets. The Jazz have a deep rotation on the wing and Ingles just isn’t enough of a scoring threat at this price.