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Ahhh, fantasy playoffs time! It's like holiday season for us NBA fantasy addicts, isn't it?
It's also time to cut ties with those lower level guys who don't have a good enough schedule next week or are injured and more than a few days away from returning. Since they can't contribute right away you should seriously consider swapping them for a free agent who can. Let's face it, time is running out and the schedule is of the essence.
If you're looking to stream your way to the next round of the playoffs, you might find this article useful as we are looking at who has a favorable schedule and who are the in-form pickups for your fantasy team. Here are our fantasy basketball streamers for Week 22.
Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers received five total writing awards and 13 award nominations by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, tops in the industry! Congrats to all the award winners and nominees including NBA Writer of the Year, Best NFL Series, MLB Series, PGA Writer and Player Notes writer of the year. Be sure to follow their analysis, rankings and advice all year long, and win big with RotoBaller! Read More!
NBA Schedule Guide - Week 22
This is the most evened out week of the year with all day having between six and eight games played on them, so it's pretty hard to predict whether most fantasy teams will have trouble fielding a full starting lineup on certain days and which days those will be.
This is why we will cover both the start of the week and the photo finish.
The beginning of next week will probably be the hardest on fantasy owners so we will focus on players from teams who have a four-game week and play three games from Monday till Thursday. There are three such teams.
We will also take a quick look at guys from the two teams that play three of their four games this week from Thursday to Sunday. They could help you make the final push for the W.
Here's the low-down:
Teams with 4 games:
Brooklyn Nets
Cleveland Cavaliers
Detroit Pistons
Houston Rockets
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
Oklahoma City Thunder
Sacramento Kings
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards
Teams with 3 games:
Atlanta Hawks
Boston Celtics
Charlotte Hornets
Chicago Bulls
Dallas Mavericks
Denver Nuggets
Indiana Pacers
Miami Heat
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans
New York Knicks
Orlando Magic
Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
Portland Trail Blazers
San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors
Teams with 2 games:
Golden State Warriors
Memphis Grizzlies
Number of teams playing each day:
Monday: 12
Tuesday: 14
Wednesday: 12
Thursday: 12
Friday: 16
Saturday: 16
Sunday: 16
Back-to-Backs (beware of older or banged up players who might rest):
Monday/Tuesday: LAC, CLE
Tuesday/Wednesday: -
Wednesday/Thursday: OKC, ORL, UTA
Thursday/Friday: SAC, LAL
Friday/Saturday: NOP, PHO, POR, SAS, WAS
Saturday/Sunday: ATL, BKN
Sunday/Monday the following: CHI, DET, MIA, NYK, TOR
All days have between 6 and 8 games
Teams playing three games over the start of the week (from Monday to Thursday)
Cleveland Cavaliers (4 games - Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat)
Oklahoma City Thunder (4 games - Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sat)
Utah Jazz (4 games - Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sat)
Teams playing three games over the weekend (from Thursday to Sunday)
Los Angeles Lakers (4 games Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sun)
Sacramento Kings (4 games Mon, Thurs, Fri, Sun)
Baller Streaming Strategy for Week 22
With such an even week, it might be wise to maximize games played by using your streaming spot at the beginning of the week on guys who will play three games in the first four days. These are players from the Cavs, the Thunder, and the Jazz.
At the other end of the spectrum, there are guys from the Lakers and the Kings who have a strong finish to the week as they play three games from Thursday to Sunday.
With this tactic, you can get a five-game week from a single streaming spot by using just two pickups (or even one if you make the first at the end of Week 21).
Although for this you don't really need any guys from the Lakers or the Kings, as three "early week teams" play their fourth and final game of the week on Saturday, so you can pick up any player that plays on Sunday after that and get a five-game week as well.
The "strong finish teams" are more for fantasy teams who would use the Clippers back-to-back on Mon-Tue and then ship that player out. Or perhaps if you own a Memphis or Golden State (who both play just two times next week) asset but after their game on Wednesday, you realize that them having just one more game that week will hurt too much and you decide to cut him.
Streaming Options for the Week
Shallower League Streaming Adds for the Week:
Early Week Adds:
Jordan Clarkson, PG/SG, CLE, (59% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT%
Cedi Osman, SF/PF, CLE, (51% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, 3PM, PTS, a bit of everything
Collin Sexton, PG, CLE, (46% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT%
Larry Nance Jr., PF/C, CLE, (71% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, STL/BLK, FG%, a bit of everything - buyer beware: got injured in his last game on March 8 and did not return
Dennis Schroder, PG, OKC, (67% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, AST
Jerami Grant, SF/PF, OKC, (76% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL/BLK, FG%
Derrick Favors, PF/C, UTA, (73% Owned) - Strong Cats: STL/BLK, FG%, REB
Jae Crowder, SG/SF, UTA, (33% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, a bit of everything
Late Week Adds:
Josh Hart, SG/SF, LAL, (29% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL/BLK
Rajon Rondo, PG, LAL, (57% Owned) - Strong Cats: AST, STL, REB
JaVale McGee, C, LAL, (71% Owned) - Strong Cats: FG%, REB, BLK
Bogdan Bogdanovic, SG/SF, SAC, (73% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%, PTS, STL, a bit of everything
Shallower League Add
Derrick Favors, PF/C, UTA, (73% Owned) - Strong Cats: STL/BLK, FG%, REB
Favors has been a top-25 player in the last 14 days with averages of 14.4 PTS with 0.3 3PM on 59.4 FG% and 88.5 FT%, 9.3 REB, 1.0 AST, 1.0 STL, 2.0 BLK, and 1.4 TO in just under 26 minutes per game.
Now he probably won't keep up it up at such a high level for much longer. Overmore, he produced a dud in his last outing, going 1-of-5 from the field (1-of-2 for three), with five rebounds, three steals, two blocks and one turnover in 22 minutes.
The good news is that the defensive stats are there no matter what. Since the beginning of February, he has had multiple stocks in all of his games except one. So even though he did cool off in his previous game, he is still pretty hot lately.
If you need some help in the stats Favors is good at and he is sitting on your waiver wire, you shouldn't hesitate to pick him up as he could easily pile up 25 rebounds, three steals, and five blocks for your fantasy team before Friday.
Deeper League Add
Nemanja Bjelica, PF, SAC, (16% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, STL/BLK
Bjelica has been a top-100 player for most of the season, but about a month ago he started to fade with the emergence of the most recent #2 overall pick Marvin Bagley III. Bagley has picked up an injury that has kept him out of the previous three games and Beli was given his minutes back, playing 13, 24, and 30 minutes in those games.
Over the last two games where he got some decent minutes he averaged 6.5 PTS with 1.5 3PM on 33.3 FG% and went 2-of-2 from the line, 5.0 REB, 3.5 AST, 0.5 STL, 1.0 BLK, and 1.5 TO in 27 minutes. It's not incredible, but his owners will take it. And he did exactly what he does well. He rebounded, he hit treys, he dished out a few passes and played good D.
Now Bagley III isn't expected to miss too much time, but still, I can't see the Kings taking many risks with their young stud. If Bagley misses more time, Bjelica will definitely be worth a look in deeper leagues in the final half of next week. But, as most of his value will come late in the week, before adding Nemanja, make sure you check out Bagley's status.
Insanely Deep League Add
Ante Zizic, C, CLE, (5% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%
When Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, and Larry Nance Jr. are all healthy, there isn't much room for Zizic.
But Tristan has been out for some time now, and with the Cavs officially out of playoff contention he certainly will not be rushed back. Larry has picked up a chest injury and did not return to Clevelands previous game. His status is still unclear but he could end up missing time. And Love has a long injury history as well so he might see his minutes reduced and an occasional rest day the rest of the way.
All this is wonderful news for Ante's minutes. With Marquese Chriss as his only other competition, he is in with a pretty good chance of getting an increased opportunity in this situation.
If you need some big-man stats at the beginning of the week, Zizic could prove quite helpful for all deep league teams.
Other Deep League Options for the Week
Early Week Adds:
David Nwaba, SG/SF, CLE, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: not much, but a bit of everything
Marquese Chriss, PF/C, ORL, (2% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, STL/BLK
Brandon Knight, PG/SG, CLE, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: AST, 3PM
Nik Stauskas, SG/SF, CLE, (2% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM
Terrance Ferguson, SG/SF, OKC, (3% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL
Nerlens Noel, PF/C, OKC, (8% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, BLK/STL
Abdel Nader, PF, OKC (0% Owned) - Strong Cats: BLK/STL
Markieff Morris, PF/C, OKC, (25% Owned) -Strong Cats: REB, STL/BLK, 3PM
Kyle Korver, SG/SF, UTA, (6% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%, PTS
Royce O'Neale, SG/SF, UTA, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB
Late Week Adds:
Reggie Bullock, SG/SF, LAL, (12% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM
Harry Giles, PF/C, SAC, (9% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%
Corey Brewer, SF, SAC, (0% Owned) -Strong Cats: STL, a tiny bit of everything
Hope you guys enjoyed the article and the advice, and I hope that this will help you win your matchups next week and bragging rights for the week after.
