Situations like Week 5 provide great opportunities for streaming. Detroit has a one-game week, Golden State has a five-game week and four teams have a two-game week. Pay attention to the number of team games played for the week as players rack up injuries.
As we head into Week 5 of the 2018-19 season, here’s the weekly game breakdown:
5 Games: Golden State
4 Games: Brooklyn, Chicago, Memphis, Miami, Minnesota, New Orleans, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Toronto, Utah, Washington
3 Games: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, New York, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento,
2 Games: Charlotte, Cleveland, Indiana, Milwaukee,
1 Game: Detroit
Recommended pickups for Week 5:
Guards
Quinn Cook, Warriors
The Warriors play five games this week and there’s still uncertainty about when starting point guard Stephen Curry is returning to the fold. Cook is in a great spot this week for short-term value. In his first start of the season, he dropped 27 points on 16 shot attempts. He had five assists as well.
It’s a small sample size, but last year Cook started the final 10 games for the Warriors, putting up averages of 15.4 points, 5.0 points, and 3.8 rebounds on 49.6 percent shooting while making half of his three-point attempts. Cook is capable of giving high-level production during his minutes.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Clippers
Gilgeous-Alexander is a great prospect for the Clippers who is well on his way to being the key part of the team’s backcourt. Patrick Beverley and Avery Bradley are best known for their defense, leaving SGA to pick up some of the offensive slack for his team. In his first three starts, he’s averaged 13.7 points on 10.3 field goal attempts while also adding in four rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.7 blocks. He’s hit 66.7 percent of his threes. Expect strong offensive production from the rookie moving forward.
Forwards:
Bojan Bogdanovic, Pacers
Bogdanovic is hitting more than 50 percent of his threes this year, and that’s not even that shocking after he hit 40 percent last year. The Pacers don’t have many 3-point shooters so if you need points and 3-pointers go and grab him.
Justise Winslow, Heat
Winslow has averaged 33.3 minutes over his last four games, and he continues to provide production across a wide array of categories. With averages of 6.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.8 steals and 0.8 blocks per game, he has a ton of value in most settings. The Heat are banged up so his role may change, but if you need a guy who can provide stats across the board feel free to add him.
Trey Lyles, Nuggets
His workload and his field goal efficiency are have steadily increased since the season opener. A few injuries have provided Lyles more minutes and opportunity. Lyles is better as a long-term investment than a source of immediate production. Over the last 3 games, Lyles has averaged 14 points, 5.6 rebounds and is shooting 59% from the field.
Centers
Tristan Thompson, Cavaliers
Even with the Cavs playing just two games this week, Thompson should be added. He’s double-doubled in three straight games and is averaging 13.8 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 0.8 blocks over his last five, shooting almost 60 percent from the floor along the way. The Cavs are a total mess, but at least Thompson is doing his thing.
Willy Hernangomez, Hornets
Willy is making some quiet noise in Charlotte right now, scoring in double figures in two of his last three and averaging 9.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.6 steals, 1.4 blocks and a 3-pointer while shooting 58 percent in 17 minutes a game over his last five. The Hornets only play two games this week, but keep him on your watch list.
