This article is part of our NBA Category Strategy series.
The Spurs are the only team scheduled for two games this week, while every other one plays three or four times.
Monday marks Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Games tipoff at 1:00 p.m. EST and half the games start before 4 p.m. Make sure to set your lineup late Sunday night or early Monday morning.
POINTS
Shabazz Muhammad (SG)
Muhammad is like the Enes Kanter of guards. He scores efficiently, but the rest of his stat line resembles a box of doughnuts. In eight January games, Muhammad is averaging 14.3 points on 49 percent shooting in 27 minutes per game. However, those points are joined by 1.4 combined assists, steals and blocks per game. The Timberwolves have lost nine straight since Muhammad became a key rotation player, and his spike in minutes has come at the expense of Tayshaun Prince. If the games are close, Prince usually plays crunch time. If they're not, Prince barely plays and doesn't see the court after his first stint in the second half. As long as the Timberwolves continue to get blown out, Muhammad will use his crafty lefthandedness around the basket and viciously yell when throwing it down.
REBOUNDS
Taj Gibson (PF)
Joakim Noah separated his left shoulder in Friday's game and surgery will force him to miss the rest of the season. The same injury knocked him out of nine straight games earlier this year, and Gibson averaged 8.9 rebounds per game as a starter in those contests while shooting a
The Spurs are the only team scheduled for two games this week, while every other one plays three or four times.
Monday marks Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Games tipoff at 1:00 p.m. EST and half the games start before 4 p.m. Make sure to set your lineup late Sunday night or early Monday morning.
POINTS
Shabazz Muhammad (SG)
Muhammad is like the Enes Kanter of guards. He scores efficiently, but the rest of his stat line resembles a box of doughnuts. In eight January games, Muhammad is averaging 14.3 points on 49 percent shooting in 27 minutes per game. However, those points are joined by 1.4 combined assists, steals and blocks per game. The Timberwolves have lost nine straight since Muhammad became a key rotation player, and his spike in minutes has come at the expense of Tayshaun Prince. If the games are close, Prince usually plays crunch time. If they're not, Prince barely plays and doesn't see the court after his first stint in the second half. As long as the Timberwolves continue to get blown out, Muhammad will use his crafty lefthandedness around the basket and viciously yell when throwing it down.
REBOUNDS
Taj Gibson (PF)
Joakim Noah separated his left shoulder in Friday's game and surgery will force him to miss the rest of the season. The same injury knocked him out of nine straight games earlier this year, and Gibson averaged 8.9 rebounds per game as a starter in those contests while shooting a team-high 60 percent from the field. Gibson played 32.0 minutes per game without Noah, making him a top rebounding target this week. If you need an attainable option, consider Darrell Arthur while Jusuf Nurkic (ankle) remains sidelined.
ASSISTS
Donald Sloan (PG)
Under interim coach Tony Brown, Sloan has seized the starting point guard role and run the offense more proficiently than Shane Larkin. Sloan's offensive rating of 103.2 is 17 points per 100 possessions higher than Larkin's since Jarrett Jack tore his right ACL. Defensively, Larkin's 111.8 defensive rating without Jack is the worst on the team among the rotation players. The starting gig is Sloan's until further notice. His 6.4 assists in 23.3 minutes per game over the last eight games ranks 18th in that time. If you couldn't get to him fast enough, Beno Udrih profiles as a one-week substitute because Goran Dragic (calf) has been ruled out until the weekend. And if you want to play the long con, Dennis Schroder's team-high 6.5 assists per game over the last six games jives with the Hawks playing four games each of the next three weeks.
STEALS
Tony Allen (SG/SF)
Prior to Saturday night's dud, Allen recorded at least two steals in 20 of 36 games this season and nine of the last 11. Playing time has been abundant with Mike Conley (Achilles) unavailable and Courtney Lee's hip costing him two games, elevating Allen to 30 minutes per game in the last 12. I don't believe Conley has a concrete recovery timetable, and after missing the last six games, you can target the duo Allen and Mario Chalmers, who's started in Conley's absence. The Grizzlies play three times this week, making Allen the safer pick should Conley return by Thursday. If neither are available, which is a likely scenario, give Cameron Payne a trial run this week. The rookie accumulated seven steals in the last two games, and the Thunder's upcoming schedule is ripe with garbage time minutes for Payne.
BLOCKS
Steven Adams (C)
Rather than endorse John Henson, who swatted 15 shots last week, for the second straight week, let's assume he's no longer available in your league. Where do you go? What do you do? Try Adams on for size. He's blocked a shot in four straight games and played at least 23 minutes in seven straight, effectively muting the efforts of Enes Kanter. In the last seven games, Adams has recorded a team-high 114.5 offensive rating and team-best 89.3 defensive rating. His offensive emergence, converting 71 percent of his attempts in January, has given coach Billy Donovan a reason to keep Kanter on the bench.
THREE-POINTERS
Mirza Teletovic (PF)
I began with a list of eight candidates and selected the player who could decide your matchup in the first four days. Three-pointers are an easy category to obtain, but you can swing and miss when a player begins a cold streak. Teletovic has made at least three three-pointers in five straight games and 20 total in that span. The Suns play three times in the upcoming week, and Teletovic's minutes tend to ebb and flow because coach Jeff Hornacek isn't committed to a set rotation, adding volatility to the situation. Even with Markieff Morris back in the lineup, Teletovic has surpassed Jon Leuer on the totem pole, guaranteeing at least 18 minutes a night, some of which occur as the de facto center, generating wide open threes at the top of the key.
