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Dallas Mavericks @ Utah Jazz
Spread: UTA -4
O/U: 222.5
Injuries
Dallas
Maxi Kleber - OUT
Utah
Donovan Mitchell - OUT
Derrick Favors - QUEST
Trent Forrest - OUT
Elijah Hughes - OUT
Defense vs. Position (DvP)
Dallas - 1st vs. PG / 2nd vs. SG / 25th vs. PF / 22nd vs. C
Utah - 6th vs. PG / 21st vs. SG / 8th vs. SF / 8th vs. PF
CPT/MVP
There is a short list of players with 80 FP upside on a nightly basis, no matter who the match-up is, and Doncic very easily makes that list. He probably tops the list, if we’re being honest. No it’s not an easy match-up, but that honestly doesn’t matter. We’re talking over 100 FP upside here with the 1.5x bonus for using him in the CPT spot.
With Donovan Mitchell out last game, Gobert dropped a nuke on this same Dallas team scoring 29 points while grabbing 20 rebounds all while blocking three shots. Gobert has now put up 50+ DKP in two straight games, has a double-double in seven straight and has averaged 48.5 DKP/game over his last five overall. Without Donovan Mitchell this year, Gobert has notched 1.46 FP/min.
What’s not to like about Clarkson in this spot? Anything? We saw what he did without Mitchell last time out and boy oh boy, it was electric. He went 11-of-21 for 31 points off the bench on Wednesday and put up 44.75 DK points in 33 minutes. It’s the exact same situation in terms of match-up and with Mitchell out once again. Clarkson leads UTA in USG (29.7%) and second in FP/min (1.21) with Mitchell off the floor this year.
Mid-Tier
I could’ve thrown him in my captain spot, but using him as a FLEX play makes sense from a price point standpoint. We know Zinger has tremendous GPP upside when his shot is falling because of his ability in the rebounding and blocks categories. It’s a tough match-up from a DvP standpoint considering the Jazz rank 4th vs. PF’s, but Zinger has 50+ upside in any spot on the board
We expected Conley to take on a bigger role for this UTA team with Mitchell out and although he was outshined by Gobert, Clarkson and Joe Ingles , he still played extremely well pouring in 17 points, notching six assists, three rebounds and two steals for 34.25 DKP. Without Mitchell Conley has a robust 24.1% USG rate and averages 1.1 FP/min.
Tim Hardaway Jr.
We know the risk when playing Hardaway because if his shot isn’t falling it could be a very long night for us. That said, Utah is exploitable at the wings and THJ looked pretty good against them earlier in the week shooting 6-for-10 and scoring 19 points. He’s actually scored 18+ actual points in 7-of-9 overall, so the consistency has been there more and more as the season’s progressed.
Value Tier
How do we not lock Ingles in at this price point and move on? I’d even give him some CPT consideration if I’m being honest. He’s going to once again draw the start at SG and he allows you the ability to get Doncic and Gobert or Doncic and Clarkson and still build a respectable lineup. We;re not expecting him to make another seven three’s, but he is a 45% shooter from that range so he can really stroke it when he’s hot.
Richardson’s a little bit of a wild card considering how long he miss due to COVID-19, but he returned last time out and was able to play 23 minutes. He didn’t play the final seven minutes or so either with this game out of hand either. Richardson’s averaging 21 FP/game on the year and if he’s able to ramp his minutes up near 30, he can easily hit and surpass that here.
Another Dallas player that was out an extended period of time due to COVID-19 but one that is entrenched in their rotation. He played 24 minutes in his return and although he didn’t do much, those minutes could be up to 30 in this one in a competitive game and despite being a low usage player, DFS is someone who contributes in a lot of different categories.