In-Season Strategy: Week 14 Schedule Considerations

As opposed to last week when we had no teams with two or fewer games and one team with five games, this week we have a really light schedule, with the Knicks and Wizards playing just one game in London, Atlanta and Dallas playing just two games, and only eight teams playing four games. Let's take a look at the full slate:

Four Games: BOS, CHA, DET, IND, LAC, MEM, PHO, SAS

Three Games: BKN, CHI, CLE, DEN, GSW, HOU, LAL, MIA, MIL, MIN, NOR, OKC, ORL, PHI, POR, SAC, TOR, UTA

Two Games: ATL, DAL

One Game: NYK, WAS

The NBA schedule makers really did fantasy players a solid by making the Knicks and Wizards the two teams to play the London game - no word from those NBA fans in London, but for our purposes we don't care about them. While each team has fantasy viable players of which some are on our regular starting lineups, there's no agonizing start-or-sit decisions with stars here, though Bradley Beal's usage has been through the roof since John Wall's injury. But even a monster game from Beal would not be close to being enough to justify a start.

Atlanta and Dallas, on the other hand, present a problem with their two-game schedules. Their respective stars, John Collins and Luka Doncic, are crushing it this week. Collins has had three 40+ Yahoo point games in a row, as has Doncic, who took it to another level Friday night with a 29-point, 12-assist, 8-rebound and two-steal effort. In a week where there are so few four-game teams and two one-game teams, you almost have to start both players.

Is there anyone else on the Hawks or Mavs that we should consider? It's pretty easy to avoid the remaining Mavericks, unless you're short at center and have to roll with DeAndre Jordan, who has produced back-to-back below average games heading into Sunday's showdown against the Warriors. They don't have anyone else that averages more than 27 Yahoo points per game or that has peaked higher than 41 Yahoo points (that player is the same, in Harrison Barnes, by the way). 

For the Hawks, it's a little trickier. Kent Bazemore's injury has served to narrow the tree for the Hawks, as playing time has been concentrated with Kevin Huerter and DeAndre' Bembry, though Huerter has produced more consistently between the two, despite missing one game last week with back woes. Trae Young has been more consistent than both, though surprisingly with a lower ceiling. Dewayne Dedmoncan't be an option, however - he's missing Sunday's game with an ankle injury suffered Friday, despite coming in the course of a 19-point, 8-rebound, 7-assist (!) outing. If I'm in a pinch, I'd consider Huerter the most of these secondary options.

When you have fewer games on the schedule, the secondary options on the four-game teams take on an extra premium. Let's take a look some of our options, with an assist from RotoWire's awesome Team Trends tool.

De'Anthony Melton, Suns - Devin Booker has missed the last three games and part of a fourth with a back injury, and Melton has stepped up nicely to fill the void, becoming everyone's DFS chalk in the process. The rookie second-round pick out of USC has topped 30 minutes in two of the last three games, and had his best fantasy game of the year on Tuesday, posting 35.3 Yahoo points. That also unfortunately illustrates his ceiling, at least for now - even with Booker out his primary function is to set up his other teammates. Meanwhile, teammate Kelly Oubre has had two monster games in that stretch and appears to be the scoring beneficiary to Booker's absence. If Booker remains out, it could be a good week to start both Suns.

Shelvin Mack, Grizzlies - My mind occasionally works in weird ways. Anytime I see Mack's name, I think of the line in Beck's song (Hotwax) - "… Community service and I'm still the Mack…." The lyrics of the entire song are pretty trippy, but I love the tune. You could spend an entire day trying to break down the meaning of it. But that particular line I had to look up. Return of the Mack is a multi-platinum hit by Mark Morrison, who, besides his musical talents, also had a propensity to get in trouble with the law. One such incident had him sentenced to perform community service. Morrison audaciously sent a lookalike to perform that community service for him. So, there you go!

As for Shelvin Mack, he's in line for more playing time this week after Kyle Anderson injured his ankle Saturday. Anderson is due for an MRI on Sunday after initial x-rays turned up negative, but it doesn't look good for him this week. Mack played 28 minutes Saturday and could be a good source for assists this week.

Reggie Jackson, Pistons - Jackson can be such a frustrating player to watch. He shoots only 40.1% from the field, but that doesn't stop him from continuing to fire away. Witness Saturday's win over the Clippers, where he went 4-for-18 from the field, or Thursday's loss to the Lakers, where Blake Griffin kept kicking it out to him from beyond the arc, yet he went 0-for-5 on three-pointers. Jose Calderon played only eight minutes Saturday, and Ish Smithremains out with a groin injury, though he's now progressed to being day-to-day. If you're stuck with someone like Emmanuel Mudiay at the point, Jackson could be an option for you.

Marcus Smart, Celtics - Speaking of frustrating, Smart's fantasy output has been lacking this season - he's averaging only 23 Yahoo fantasy points per game, with a peak of 42 points. The Celtics' rotation is crowded that it's hard to find windows for him to push through. But his minutes are pretty stable, so with the Celtics playing four games, he's still a superior option to the likes of DeAndre Jordan and Trae Young and their two games, if averages hold - by nearly 20 Yahoo points.

Marco Belinelli, Spurs - This is strictly a one-week rental for the games and to add three-pointers. Belinelli is averaging 19.0 points and 4.0 threes in 25 minutes over last three games for the Spurs, in part benefiting from Rudy Gay's wrist injury. But the 12-year veteran is strictly a role player at this juncture, there mostly to take three-pointers and distribute the ball. It's hard to envision him getting more than his 20-25 minutes on a regular basis, especially with the Spurs playing four games this week. Davis Bertansis another Spurs player to see a jump in minutes lately, and he has averaged 10.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.0 blocks, 1.0 steals and 3.5 threes in 28 minutes over the last two games.

Nicalos Batum, Hornets - It's been a down year for Batum, who is averaging only 9.4 points per game. He's actually shooting better, both generally from the field and from beyond the arc, but the volume simply hasn't been there. Saturday's win over the Kings provided some glimmer of hope, however, as he turned in a 36.8 Yahoo-point game in the Hornets' close loss. Much like Jackson and Smart above, the sheer number of games should make him fantasy-relevant this week.

Domantas Sabonis, Pacers - Even before Myles Turner got hurt, Sabonis had been producing for the Pacers, but he's increased his production with five big games in a row, with a floor of 35 Yahoo points in that span. Because Victor Oladipo has turned out so well for the Pacers since the Paul George trade, it's easy to forget that Sabonis also came over the deal. In his third year out of Gonzaga, the 22-year old is now averaging 15.2 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists despite playing just 25.5 minutes per game. When Turner returns - he just began practicing again on Sunday - Sabonis will probably lose minutes just because the Pacers have a lot of other mouths to feed in the front court  (Turner, Thaddeus Young, Bojan Bogdanovic), but the future is bright.