Thursday's Fantasy Basketball Streamers: Neemias Queta, Noah Clowney, and More
Streaming players from three NBA teams with good matchups on Thursday.
Once we hit Thursday, the week kind of gets taken over by football. Thursday Night Football kicks off the NFL week, then college football covers Friday and (especially) Saturday before the NFL dominates Sunday and leaks into Monday.
Real NBA fans stay in touch with the nightly happenings around the league, but casual fans lose track when those more popular sports come along. The fantasy world doesn't stop, though, and lineups need to be set each day.
Let's look at streaming players from three NBA teams with good matchups on Thursday. We will (mostly) focus on the guys who are widely available in fantasy leagues and can be easily picked up. Most stats are from NBA.com.
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Boston Celtics @ Washington Wizards
Washington plays at the fifth-fastest pace, and they have the worst defensive rating in the league. The Wizards will likely continue to be one of our favorite targets all year long.
The Celtics are in a transition season after losing Jayson Tatum, and they are hanging tight at sixth in the East with a 12-9 record. While Boston might not have a championship ceiling with this current roster, they are still good enough to be a playoff team.
Guard
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Walsh is the better fantasy player, but he still only contributes at a low level. Back on Sunday, he played 38 minutes, scored 14 points, and grabbed 11 rebounds; he usually plays about 20 minutes, and his stats deflate accordingly.
Gonzalez played 23 minutes in Tuesday's game against the Knicks, but he otherwise has played limited minutes, and he hasn't put up many stats.
Forward
Hauser and Minott both play around 20 minutes per game and don't fill the box score. Hauser is averaging 6.9 points and 3.5 rebounds, and Minott is at 7.4 points and 5.0 rebounds; these guys are low-level streamers with Minott the slightly better option.
Center
There aren't a lot of true center minutes that get played for Boston, but Queta gets most of them (24 per game). He has a decent stat line, with 9.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game, so Queta is a good streamer today against the Wizards.
Brooklyn Nets vs. Utah Jazz
The Nets were listed here yesterday when they played the Bulls; Brooklyn won 113-103. They get a second straight strong matchup today against Utah, and hopefully, they will put up more points in this one.
The Jazz play at the fourth-fastest pace and hold the fourth-worst defensive rating. Utah is pushing Washington for our best target team (though they're not quite there yet).
Guard
This group had a slow day yesterday, as only Demin was in double digits (he had 10 points). None of the three puts up much for stats, and they are low-level streamers, with Demin and Martin as the better options.
Forward
Wolf has played more minutes since Thanksgiving, and that has come with some modest production as well. He's just a low-level streamer, but Wolf is an intriguing name to remember. Williams is around nine points and three rebounds per game, nothing exciting in the fantasy world.
Center
Clowney was my favorite of Brooklyn's streamers yesterday, and he scored 20 points and had seven rebounds against Chicago. He's again my favorite of the group, even if he doesn't have quite as good of a day; Clowney is a strong streamer.
Minnesota Timberwolves @ New Orleans Pelicans
This matchup isn't quite as great as the other two, as the Pelicans have the third-worst defensive rating but play at an average pace rather than playing fast. The higher the pace, the more possessions in a game, and that means more chances at stats; what could be better for a fantasy player than getting maximum chances to produce?
Minnesota looks like a contender against based on their performance so far. For some teams, there's really nothing of note until the playoffs start unless it's disaster, and the Timberwolves fall into that group.
Guard
DiVincenzo is one of my favorite streamers who ends up here often. He is owned in about half of leagues, so you might not be able to get him, but DiVincenzo does a little bit of everything, averaging 14.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. He's a good streamer. Conley doesn't do enough statistically at this point in his career to be on the fantasy radar.
Forward
Center
I had to do this when Minnesota was listed here back on Tuesday: McDaniels and Reid are both owned in well over half of fantasy leagues and don't really qualify as streamers, but Minnesota doesn't have any other frontcourt players to list here, and since both guys have a little availability, I'll put them here. You probably won't be able to grab either McDaniels or Reid, but if you can, they are great options.
