In-Season Strategy: Week 11 Start/Sit

Another relatively standard setup is upon us in Week 11, with most teams playing three games. Remember to keep an eye out for players on your roster whose squads participate in only two matchups -- Houston, New Orleans and Philadelphia -- while searching the waiver wire for streaming options from teams with four contests. The Wizards have an especially favorable schedule, as they have four games all at home. Here's the schedule breakdown:

Teams with four games: CLE, DET, LAC, MIA, MIN, ORL, PHO, POR, WAS

Teams with three games: ATL, BOS, BKN, CHA, CHI, DAL, DEN, GS, IND, LAL, MEM, MIL, NY, OKC, SAC, SAN, TOR, UTA

Teams with two games: HOU, NO, PHI

And here are players to consider starting and ones to consider sitting:

Point Guard

Consider Starting: Patrick Beverley, LAC

Opponents: @Sac, Det, Mem, NY

Beverley has missed three of the past seven games -- the first two games because of a concussion and a later game due to a groin injury. But all signs are that he's shaken things off, and he put together a quality effort on Christmas Day against the Lakers, posting eight points, nine rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block. Beverley's box score stats are constantly in single-digits, which is probably why he's perennially underutilized in fantasy. But aside from Draymond Green, Beverley is probably the strongest candidate to fall into a flat 10/10/10 triple-double on any given night. He's also valuable as a defender, averaging 1.3 steals over the past month -- a stretch in which he's ranked as the 78th-best fantasy player. With four favorable matchups on tap, and three of them at home, starting Beverley is a no-brainer for Week 11.

Consider Sitting: Lonzo Ball, NO

Opponents: @LAL, @Sac

Ball finding 36 minutes during a win over Denver on Christmas was encouraging, but he didn't have a particularly strong game from a fantasy standpoint. That's been the case all month, along with a fluctuating workload. In December, Ball has ranked as just the 168th-ranked fantasy player in 28.4 minutes per game. His rebounding (5.7) and defense (1.2 steals) has been nice, but he's absolutely tanking fantasy teams' field-goal percentage (36.3). Fantasy owners in shallow points leagues can maybe afford to start Ball, but it's hard to justify it otherwise with only two games on the slate for the Pelicans.

Shooting Guard

Consider Starting: Bruce Brown, DET

Opponents: @Uta, @LAC, @GS, @LAL

Unless you've been regularly watching Pistons games, there's a good chance Brown has flown under your radar despite seeing 26.4 minutes per game on the season. The 6-foot-4 sophomore has spent time at point guard, shooting guard and small forward this season, showing off a varied skillset. Brown has been especially good over the past two weeks, ranking as the 52nd-best fantasy player on the back of 12.2 points with 54.0 percent shooting, 5.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.0 three-pointer across 27.5 minutes per game. His shooting will cool off, but he's been a consistent part of the Pistons' rotation all season, and that should mean great fantasy value heading into a four-game Week 11, even with some tough matchups on the horizon.

Consider Sitting: Josh Richardson, PHI

Opponents: @Ind, @Hou

Richardson is finally back up to playing 30-plus minutes per night, and he's hit that mark in each of the past five games. However, he hasn't quite gotten his rhythm back. He's hitting just 41.1 percent of his 14.6 shot attempts over this stretch, and he's averaging a modest 15.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 threes, which has resulted in a rank of 101 since Dec. 18. Richardson will bounce back, but even if he does this week, two games probably isn't enough for a start.

Small Forward

Consider Starting: Robert Covington, MIN

Opponents: Bkn, @Mil, GS, @Cle

Covington's workload isn't as steady as it has been in prior seasons, but he's still seeing a solid 29.1 minutes per game this month. That's all it takes for the elite three-and-D wing to be fantasy relevant, as he's ranked 102 in December. Notably, he's drilling 2.0 threes and swiping 1.3 steals over his past 12 appearances while also chipping in 12.1 points and 5.3 rebounds. On a four-game week, he's certainly worth a start against mostly average competition.

Consider Sitting: RJ Barrett, NY

Opponents: Por, @Pho, @LAC

Barrett was started in 60 percent of CBS leagues last week, but I'm not sure if he should even be owned in 60 percent of leagues. I don't know what kind of value he would be adding to a fantasy squad in a 12-team league. He's not a top-180 player this week, over the past two weeks, over the past month, over the past two months, or over the whole season. In December, he's averaging 11.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists while shooting 34.8 percent from the field, 27.1 percent from three and 62.8 percent (an improvement!) from the charity stripe. He might not even be a top-5 Rookie of the Year candidate. Still, by all means, hang onto him if you're in a keeper league. If you're in a standard redraft league that's shallower than 16 teams, you should be able to get away with streaming the spot.

Power Forward

Consider Starting: Marcus Morris, NY

Opponents: Por, @Pho, @LAC

Well, we're 32 games into the Knicks' season, and Morris leads the team in scoring (18.6 points per game) while hitting an absurd 46.1 percent of his 128 three-point attempts. You can't be blamed if you didn't see this coming. But now it's important to make sure he's in your starting lineup. Morris has ranked as the 97th-best fantasy player this month, notably drilling 2.2 threes and hitting 90.2 percent of his 4.1 free-throw attempts per game. A regression may come at some point this season, but it's worth riding the wave on a three-game week. As an aside: Rumors have swirled about Morris being a strong candidate to be traded, and if that ends up happening, he'll likely end up in a lower-usage situation. It may not be a bad time to try to float Morris out on the fantasy trading block yourself to maximize his value.

Consider Sitting: Paul Millsap, DEN

Opponents: @Hou, @Ind, @Was

Millsap saw 26.9 minutes per game across the first 15 games of the season, but, over his past 13 appearances, his workload has been reduced to 22.7 minutes per game. That's resulted in subpar averages of 10.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists, spitting out a rank of 143 since Nov. 26. This was always the concern with Millsap -- his minutes would be squeezed due to the depth on Denver's roster, especially Jerami Grant. If Millsap remains under 24 minutes consistently, it will be tough to roster him in 10- or 12-team formats.

Center

Consider Starting: Mitchell Robinson, NY

Opponents: Por, @Pho, @LAC

Robinson has been excellent over the past two weeks, and he hasn't seen fewer than 20 minutes in any game this month. He's making major fantasy contributions as a shot-blocker (1.9), rebounder (8.1) and efficient scorer (71.4 percent from the field) over the past seven games, resulting in a rank of 47 during this stretch. The key for Robinson is to consistently stay above that 20-minute threshold. If he's doing that, he's essentially a must-start on three-game weeks. But if he can ever reach the 30-minute mark, he'll be a dominant fantasy player. He currently ranks third in the NBA in offensive rebound percentage (14.1), second in field-goal percentage (68.5) and first in block percentage (8.2).

Consider Sitting: Al Horford, PHI

Opponents: @Ind, @Hou

Horford has been solid this month, but not quite to the level where he's a must-start on a two-game week. While he's been a quality defender (1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks per game), he's struggled scoring (10.8 points on 42.2 percent shooting). Ultimately, he's ranked 67th since Dec. 1 in 29.4 minutes per contest. Fantasy owners may be able to find another center capable of exceeding Horford's projections this week, especially if the other player has four games on tap.