The Miami Heat played incredible basketball in Week 17. Winning all three of their games, the Heat were riding a five-game winning streak heading into All-Star week, until losing to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.
Despite the light schedule, several of the key fantasy contributors stepped up for Miami. Tyler Herro only played in one of the three contests, but the other three must-roster players paid dividends for fantasy managers.
Kyle Lowry led the Heat in total value for the week. With an all-around stat line of 12.7 points, 2.3 triples, six rebounds, 7.3 assists, two steals, and 52 percent shooting, Lowry produced a tremendous week’s worth of value.
Thanks to the inflated assist and steal numbers, Lowry finished 34th on the week. His teammate, Bam Adebayo, placed right behind him at 36th.
The Miami Heat played incredible basketball in Week 17. Despite a defeat to kick off Week 18, they can still go into the break on a high.
Bam continued his amazing run since returning from injury. Shooting 63.6 percent from the field on nearly 15 shots per game, Adebayo shot up the fantasy leaderboard once again in Week 17.
Although he did not bring the defensive numbers that catapulted him last week, Bam still brought 23 points and 10.3 rebounds per contest to the table. Jimmy Butler saw his rebounds and assists dip this week, which lowered his fantasy value considerably.
In his three games, Butler secured a top-50 placement at 49th overall. Butler still procured incredible numbers, but with a combination of lower counting stats and fewer games played, his overall value was not quite up to his usual standards for a week.
The only other Miami Heat player in the top-100 for the week was Gabe Vincent, who finished 92nd. Making the most of Herro’s absence, Vincent’s performance is more likely a fluke than anything else.
On the back of above-par field goal and free throw shooting, Vincent capitalized on the extra opportunity Week 17 threw his way. With Herro potentially out until the All-Star Break, Vincent may be worth an add, but he should be immediately moved on from as soon as Herro returns.
As the Heat look to Week 18, fantasy managers are down to the final three weeks of the regular season. Due to the strange scheduling around the All-Star Break this week, the Heat have a four-game fantasy week, which is stretched over the course of two real-world weeks.
With Miami’s current Big 3 fully healthy, a number of the fringy fantasy players have not been providing elite value as they were earlier in the season. If you can trade for Butler, Lowry, or Adebayo, do it!
They are going to be carrying plenty of managers into the fantasy playoffs.