This is it. We’re at the last week of the NBA regular season and therefore the last week of any possible NBA fantasy games. Note: playoff fantasy is also available on Fantrax. It seems fitting for NBA fantasy to end the season on week 23. Because of Michael Jordan. Note: different sites count the weeks differently, for example, it’s Week 25 on NBA.com.
In any case, we’re well into the garbage time of the NBA regular season. Only a few teams have something to play for – the current 3rd to 8th seeds in the West all could still fall into the play-in spots, and the East play-in teams could still be shuffled around. So, look for these teams to use their best players until the end of the season. Everyone else? It’ll be the wild west of random end-of-bench and G-League guys.
Fantasy Basketball Schedule Overview
- Monday (4/7): 2 games
- Tuesday (4/8): 10 games
- Wednesday (4/9): 10 games
- Thursday (4/10): 5 games
- Friday (4/11): 15 games
- Sunday (4/13): 15 games
Teams with 4 games:
ATL, BKN, BOS, CHA, CHI, CLE, DET, GSW, IND, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIA, MIL, MIN, NOP, NYK, OKC, ORL, PHI, PHX, SAC, SAS, WAS
Teams with 3 games:
DAL, DEN, HOU, POR, TOR, UTA
Teams with 1 back-to-back:
ATL, BKN, BOS, CHA, CHI, CLE, DET, GSW, IND, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIL, MIN, NOP, NYK, OKC, ORL, PHX, SAC, SAS, WAS
Teams with 0 back-to-backs:
DAL, DEN, HOU, MIA, PHI, POR, TOR, UTA
Most Favorable Schedules
Philadelphia 76ers – @MIA @WAS ATL CHI
The Sixers have shut everyone who’s anyone down and tanked their way to the fifth-best odds to the #1 pick. They’re likely settled at that spot, so they have no real reason to win or lose any of the remaining games. For the past few weeks, Quentin Grimes has been their alpha-dog wing scorer. Adem Bona has impressed at the center with 12.8 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game in his last five outings. Look for these two to keep it up until the end of the season.
Miami Heat – PHI @CHI @NOP WAS
The Heat are one of the teams in the 7-10 range in the East and, presumably, very much would prefer a 7 or 8 seed. With the team still in contention, look for their main stars to perform. A non-star to look out for? Davion Mitchell has been putting up very nice points, assists, and steals numbers coming off the bench for the last few weeks. He is available in 57% of Fantrax fantasy basketball leagues.
Oklahoma City Thunder – LAL @PHX @UTA @NOP
The Thunder have nothing to play for anymore – the #1 seed in the West is in the bank. Technically, the Cavs could beat them for the home-court advantage in the Finals, but that is unlikely. For some reason, I do think they’ll be playing their main guys until the end. Maybe just because they’re a very young team, or maybe to make a final push for individual awards.
Minnesota Timberwolves – @MIL @MEM BKN UTA
The Wolves are one of the teams battling to stay out of the play-in tournament in the West. So for that reason, there definitely won’t be any funny business. Their two best players have been Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert as of late. Duh. But the fantasy pick-up is Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who averaged 14.2 points, 5.5 assists, 2.2 threes, and 1.5 blocks per game in his last four.
Washington Wizards – @IND PHI @CHI @MIA
I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but something’s changed recently, and this team has a lot of charm to it. Or as Bill Simmons would put it – it’s a League Pass team. Another thing they have is the best odds of getting Cooper Flagg locked in (14%). If fantasy basketball is what you’re here for, I suggest you take a look at Carlton “Bub” Carrington, Colby Jones, or Justin Champagnie.
Usage Watch
Jose Alvarado has the highest increase in usage over the past week. He’s followed by Deni Avdija, who’s been on fire lately. Then Devin Booker and Jusuf Nurkić. Then Donte DiVincenzo, then Mitchell Robinson, then Grayson Allen. Then Nikola Jokić, who I guess has been scoring a lot more recently.
That concludes this week’s Usage Watch.
