For many of you, it's playoff time!
Please refer to the Fantasy Basketball Playoff Primer for an extended preview of what's to come this stretch, but we'll have more and updated information to expand upon for the Week 19 slate, which is genuinely packed.
This is Week 1 of the playoffs in our Action Network fantasy basketball league for example — your boy is the No. 1 seed in both leagues of record, thank God, because the playoffs are going to be brutal.
By sheer numbers, most don't have byes and, whether it's injury luck, a stacked top end of the league or otherwise, there's reason to be paranoid whether you're playing or not. So this week, let's go through as many essentials as possible to get you prepped.
And any questions I'm not able to get through here, feel free to Tweet me @BryanFonsecaNY or tag me in our Action discord.
Fantasy Team of the Week: Brooklyn Nets
Volume volume volume.
The Nets have not one, not two, not three, not four, but five games this week, and they're as follows:
Here's the schedule:
- Monday: Home vs. Memphis Grizzlies
- Tuesday: Home vs. Philadelphia 76ers
- Thursday: At Detroit Pistons
- Saturday: At Charlotte Hornets
- Sunday: At Cleveland Cavaliers
Two home games, two soft road games, then the Cavs, who will be heavy favorites.
Two back-to-backs will grant tons of streaming upside for Nets players, the problem is that they don't have a lot of good ones and could be approaching shut it down SZN. But for this week, keep that roster on your radar from beginning till end.
Unsittables: Mikal Bridges, Nic Claxton
Guys You'll Start If Healthy: Cam Thomas, Cam Johnson
Streamable: Dennis Schroder, Ben Simmons (if healthy), Dorian Finney-Smith
Deep League Streamers: Dennis Smith Jr., Day'Ron Sharpe
Fantasy Anti-Team of the Week: New Orleans Pelicans
This is a reach since no one's schedule is really awful this week, but the Pelicans aren't shy about having a checkered injury report, and all three of their games are on the road this week.
The schedule:
- Tuesday: At Toronto Raptors
- Friday: At Philadelphia 76ers
- Sunday: At Atlanta Hawks
Entering the week, Dyson Daniels is the only injury report player on the Pels, and he's out for weeks due to a knee injury. Otherwise, the full cast is healthy, for now, until we inevitable see questionable tags ladden the roster.
Unsittable: Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum
Starters: Herb Jones, Jonas Valanciunas
Streamers: Trey Murphy III
INJURY PIVOT
F/G Scottie Barnes
Toronto Raptors
The All-Star forward has a hand fracture, and while no timetable has been announced for his eventual return, he isn't expected to be back so soon.
Team Pivots: Gary Trent Jr., Gradey Dick
Waiver Wire Pivots: Ayo Dosunmu, Norman Powell, Alex Caruso, Terance Mann, Royce O'Neale, Miles McBride, Jaime Jaquez, Jabari Walker, Dorian Finney-Smith, Kyle Lowry, Amen Thompson
G Russell Westbrook
Los Angeles Clippers
Westbrook, like Barnes, also suffered a hand fracture and is likely to be out for a fairly extended period.
Team Pivots: Norman Powell, Terance Mann
Waiver Wire Pivots: Ayo Dosunmu, Alex Caruso, Miles McBride, Amen Thompson, TJ McConnell, Kyle Lowry
G Jalen Brunson
New York Knicks
Brunson left Sunday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers with what was referred to as a sore left knee, that is now labeled a knee contusion. Knee contusion's are tricky, and we'll ultimately have to wait and see how his knee reacts Monday, but the safe assumption is that he isn't out long-term, and could possibly play before the end of the week.
Team Pivots: Miles McBride
Waiver Wire Pivots: Ayo Dosunmu, Alex Caruso, Norman Powell, Terance Mann, Amen Thompson, TJ McConnell, Kyle Lowry
G/F Devin Booker
Phoenix Suns
Booker suffered a right ankle sprain over the weekend that will keep him out for 7-10 days, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Team Pivots: Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale, Eric Gordon
Waiver Wire Pivots: Ayo Dosunmu, Norman Powell, Alex Caruso, Terance Mann, Royce O'Neale, Miles McBride, Jaime Jaquez, Jabari Walker, Dorian Finney-Smith, Kyle Lowry, Amen Thompson
RISERS
G/F Norman Powell
Los Angeles Clippers
If your team is injured, needs guard help, and is depending on an uptick in someone, Norman Powell might be your guy off waivers.
Powell exploded for 24 points in the Clippers road win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. Over his last 17 games, he's near 15 points per contest on over 49/45 shooting from the field and from three.
He doesn't get to the line a tone and doesn't fill out stat categories aside from points, a few rebounds and the occasional steal, but with an increase in usage as Westbrook sits, he's worth a stream in the playoffs due to the ability to go off on any night, especially if one of the Clippers remaining big three sit.
F/C Dorian Finney-Smith
Brooklyn Nets
If you're in the playoffs, or need a win in general, this is a sneaky good add.
Finney-Smith has positionally eligibility at both forward spots as well as center, has five games this week, and has been playing well as of late. DFS is averaging about 9-6-2 with one stock per game over his last five, believe it or not, that's progress from where he was for several weeks beforehand. The Nets enter the week with Cam Thomas out and Ben Simmons questionable, and this is a team trying to reach the Play-In, so there's no incentive to rest DFS on the five-game week.
Remember, it's a volume play if you're in need purely for this week.
FALLERS
C/F Daniel Gafford
Dallas Mavericks
I was very high on Gafford and what he had been doing in Dallas upon arrival, averaging 15.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per contest in his first three games. Since then, he's at about 5-4-1 in six contests, and Dereck Lively is starting ahead of him, to no one's surprise. Maxi Kleber has accumulated more center minutes than Gafford over the last two outings, which is an even worse sign of where we are with this.
Gafford ended last week with back-to-back zeros, and it looks like he'll wind up on many waivers this week.
FALLERS
G/F Buddy Hield
Philadelphia 76ers
Speaking of players who were awesome once traded and have since considerably regressed.
The sharpshooting wing averaged 22.3 points and 7.5 assists on 52/45/75 shooting in his first four games with Philly. Since then, he's at 11.3 points and 4.2 assists on 37/38/0 shooting — zero free throw attempts.
Don't drop because the truth is probably somewhere in the middle, but be worried given the time of the calendar.
