High Value SF
Jae Crowder-Boston Celtics (5,200): Crowder has been in the spotlight twice over his last five games with a dust-up with John Wall and a Twitter rant against Boston fans cheering for Gordon Hayward. Ironically, both of those incidents game after some of his best games of the season. Last Tuesday, he had 28.1 fantasy points against Utah with 21-3-1, and against Washington on Wednesday he had 20-5-1 for 31.5 fantasy points. He has been a little inconsistent throughout this season, but he has lots of upside from 5K as he and the Celtics head to Atlanta without Avery Bradley.∗∗∗
Aaron Gordon-Orlando Magic (4,900): Gordon has always been loaded with potential, but he has been all over the map this season. Lately, he’s been good though with over 28 fantasy points in four of his last five games. He finished with 28-3-3 against the Clippers for 34.1 fantasy points on Wednesday after 18-6-7 for 35.7 last Friday against the Rockets. In between those games, though, he dropped an inexplicable dud against the Lakers with just 8.7 fantasy points. He’s not a lock, but I love his upside against the Blazers tonight who have been vulnerable to opposing forwards throughout the season.∗∗∗∗
Evan Turner-Portland Trail Blazers (4,400): Turner only had two points on a woeful 1-7 shooting but he still managed to come through with 30+ fantasy points against the Cavs on Wednesday with 2-8-11 with a block and two steals. Turner has played at least 25 minutes in all nine of his games since returning from his injury and has at least 22 fantasy points in four of his last eight. He’s a boom-or-bust play, but at this price he has good enough upside to consider against Orlando who he had success against in his time with Boston over the last few seasons.∗∗
DeMarre Carroll-Toronto Raptors (3,800): Carroll is a low-risk play at a very cheap price point, and he’s getting plenty of run lately for the Raptors. Carroll has played at lest 34 minutes in each of the team’s last four games and has at least 16 fantasy points in five straight highlighted by a breakout 36.6 fantasy points on 26-8-0 against Houston last Sunday. He followed that with a solid 11-4-2 for 19.8 fantasy points against Boston which isn’t a bad return at under 4K. He’s in a great matchup tonight as the Raps host Brooklyn who he had 17-3-0 with two steals for 22.6 fantasy points on 12/20. He is finally starting to look healthy and ready to be a big part of Toronto’s stretch run now that his minutes cap has been lifted. He’s my favorite sub-4K play anywhere on the board tonight as he faces the Nets who allow the most fantasy points per game to opposing SF.∗∗∗∗
Stanley Johnson-Detroit Pistons (3,500): Johnson could be lined up for plenty of playing time tonight if KCP is out after a shoulder injury suffered last night in Golden State. After Caldwell-Pope left, Johnson played 38 minutes totaling 16.9 fantasy points on 8-2-3. He has shown in the past he has high upside and potential to produce, but he has only reached 20 fantasy points in one of his last 15 games. The minutes should help him tonight, but he’s still a risky play since he hasn’t had a really great game since last year when he filled in for KCP for a few weeks.∗∗
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