It's playoffs time!!! Forget sentiment. Forget the love you've gotten from a player throughout the year. If his schedule does not fit with the rest of your team, and he is not indispensable, he's out! Waiver wire gold is awaiting and don't miss out just because Delon Wright used to bring you defensive stats that won you a few matchups during the regular season. It's all about winning now, and having a streaming spot is most probably the way to do it.
It's the perfect time to say "Thanks" to those marginal players with poor schedules in favor of fresh pickups from the waiver wire that will vastly improve your chances of winning this week's matchup. It's important who you pick, but it can be even more important when he plays, so we will be looking at teams based on their schedules and what players to consider targeting in advance to maximize the bang for the buck you get out of limited weekly transactions. Streaming is just about maximizing a roster spot with whoever is available after all, it's never about targeting a specific player.
It's GO BIG or GO HOME! Are you ready!? Here are our Fantasy Basketball Streamers for Week 22.
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NBA Schedule Guide - Week 22
Three key days in Week 22 are the four-game nights on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday. That's when most fantasy teams will have holes in their starting lineups to fill and those are the dates we will be concentrating on.
Here's the low-down:
Teams with 4 games:
Houston Rockets
Los Angeles Clippers
New Orleans Pelicans
Oklahoma City Thunder
Portland Trail Blazers
Sacramento Kings
San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors
Teams with 3 games:
Atlanta Hawks
Boston Celtics
Brooklyn Nets
Charlotte Hornets
Chicago Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers
Dallas Mavericks
Denver Nuggets
Detroit Pistons
Golden State Warriors
Indiana Pacers
Los Angeles Lakers
Memphis Grizzlies
Miami Heat
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
New York Knicks
Orlando Magic
Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards
Number of teams playing each day:
Monday: 8
Tuesday: 22
Wednesday: 8
Thursday: 18
Friday: 12
Saturday: 22
Sunday: 8
Back-to-Backs (beware of older banged up players who might rest):
Brooklyn: Fri*/Sat
Dallas: Fri*/Sat
Golden State: Fri/Sat*
Houston: Sat*/Sun*
LA Clippers: Thurs*/Fri*
LA Lakers: Tue/Wed*
Minnesota: Sat*/Sun
New Orleans: Sat/Sun
Oklahoma City: Mon/Tue*
Orlando: Tue*/Wed
Philadelphia: Thurs*/Fri
Portland: Sat/Sun*
Sacramento: Fri*/Sat*
San Antonio: Mon*/Tue
Toronto: Thurs*/Fri
Washington: Tue/Wed*
* = away game
Teams playing twice on days with 4 or fewer games:
Boston, Houston, Miami, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Portland, Sacramento
Teams playing three games over the weekend (Thursday to Sunday):
Houston, LA Clippers, New Orleans, Portland, Toronto
Baller Streaming Strategy for Week 22
We've got three scarce game-nights with four games apiece on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday. No teams play on all three of these days and seven teams play on two. As it is most probable that your team will be missing a player on one or all of these days, we will be targeting players from these teams.
Furthermore, we will make it even easier for you by pointing out which teams play on which of these days:
Monday and Wednesday:
Miami, Milwaukee, Sacramento
Monday and Sunday:
Houston, Oklahoma City, Portland
Wednesday and Sunday:
Boston
Guys from these teams are most likely to fit your team schedule and be as valuable as possible for your matchup next week. And we can all use all the help we can get as it's all on the limb and anything is possible in the playoffs.
Here are our streamers for Week 22.
Streaming Options for the Week
Shallower League Streaming Adds for the Week:
James Johnson, SF/PF, MIA (43% Owned) - Strong Cats: FG%, AST, STL/BLK
Kelly Olynyk, PF/C, MIA, (43% Owned) - Strong Cats: FG%, REB, 3PM
Tyler Johnson PG/SG, MIA (37% Owned) - Strong Cats: FT%, STL, a bit of everything
Marcus Morris, SF/PF, BOS (36% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, REB
Ryan Anderson, PF/C, HOU, (34% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%, REB
Buddy Hield, SG, SAC, (54% Owned) - Strong Cats: FT%, 3PM, PTS
Marcus Smart, PG/SG, BOS, (51% Owned) - Strong Cats: AST, 3PM, REB, STL
Justise Winslow, SF/PF, MIA, (36% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, STL, a bit of everything
Bogdan Bogdanovic, SG/SF, SAC, (50% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, AST, a bit of everything
John Henson, PF/C, MIL, (27% Owned) - Strong Cats: FG%, REB, BLK
Player recommendations
Shallower League Add
Terry Rozier, PG/SG, BOS (38% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL, REB
Terry has been tearing it up ever since he got the nod with Marcus Smart sidelined due to injury. He took the most of that opportunity and has earned himself 26 minutes per game in the past month. Furthermore, Rozier has scored in double-digits in 15 straight. His last single-digit game was back in January.
Along with the scoring at 14.1 points per game, Rozier is also giving his owners 2.3 threes on 43.0% from the field and 76.5% from the line, 3.7 boards, 3.6 dimes, 0.6 steals, 0.1 blocks and 0.7 turnovers. If you need some well-rounded production with an emphasis on threes and assists, Rozier could be your guy. Especially with Jaylen Brown entering the concussion protocol.
Deep League Add
P.J. Tucker, SG/SF, HOU, (9% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB
There's not many players that play almost 30 minutes a game left on the waiver wire. But P.J. Tucker is one of them, so it is clear that he is not the GO TO guy on the Rockets' roster. However, he is a guy that will give you consistent threes, steals and decent rebounds from the SG position. Moreover, Ryan Anderson is out a while now, and James Harden is also being benched on Sunday. Although The Beard should be back on Monday, Mike D'Antoni might want to take it easy on his star, which would give even more opportunity for P.J.
If you're in a deeper league and you're looking for those stats, there are not many better role players than him for this purpose. And all this without hurting you much in other cats, and even contributing a bit in blocks and assists.
Insanely Deep League Add
Frank Mason III, PG, SAC, (5% Owned) - Strong Cats: AST, STL
With George Hill out of Sacramento at the deadline, Frank Mason III was looking at a much lager role with the Kings. It was just the matter of time and fitness. Mason is fit and the time is NOW.
In the previous two games, Mason has been playing just under 29 minutes with averages of 11.5 PTS with 0.5 3PM on 31.8 FG% and 88.9 FT%, 5.5 REB, 6.0 AST, 2.0 STL, 0.5 BLK and 2.5 TO. He might not be that good going forward, but you can expect similar lines at around 70% of the production.
So, if you can swallow the abysmal shooting from the field and the typical rookie turnover rate, Mason could help you win your next weeks' matchup and push you through to the next round of your deep league playoffs.
Will you take advantage of it?
Other Deep League Options for the Week
Wayne Ellington, SG/SF, MIA (13% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%, PTS
Patrick Patterson, PF/C, OKC, (2% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%
Raymond Felton, PG, OKC, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%, AST
Jerami Grant, SF/PF, OKC, (3% Owned) - Strong Cats: FG%, REB, STL/BLK
Cory Brewer, SG/SF, OKC, (2% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, SF/PF, HOU, (2% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, STL/BLK
Tony Snell, SG/SF, MIL (4% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT% - Beware! - incredibly frustrating to own
Thon Maker, PF/C, MIL, (5% Owned) - Strong Cats: BLK/STL, REB
Shabazz Napier, PG, POR, (5% Owned) - Strong Cats: STL, 3PM, FT%
Ed Davis, PF/C, POR, (10% Owned) - Strong Cats: BLK/STL, REB, FG%
Hope you guys enjoyed the article and the advice, and I hope that this will help you win your matchups for next and bragging rights for the week after.
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