Week 22 is Championship Week in Yahoo! public leagues and Yahoo! leagues that use the default settings. By now, fantasy managers have dealt with many availability issues due to actual injuries or players receiving a night off for rest reasons. Sometimes, it has been easy to figure out when players will sit, but there have been some surprises. Week 22 is busy, as 22 teams will play four games, and a few have multiple back-to-backs to navigate. Let’s look at the Week 22 schedule breakdown.
Week 22 Games Played
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4 Games: ATL, BOS, CHA, CHI, DAL, DEN, GSW, HOU, IND, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIA, MIL, NYK, OKC, POR, SAC, SAS, TOR, UTA, WAS
3 Games: BKN, CLE, DET, MIN, NOR, ORL, PHI, PHO
Week 22 Storylines
– San Antonio, Toronto, Utah and Washington are among the teams that will play four games during Week 22.
The Spurs, Raptors, Jazz and Wizards are all headed to the draft lottery, and each has a full schedule for the week. That’s good news for fantasy managers who need to prioritize availability with league championships on the line. The Spurs have continued to play their veterans, but there has also been room for Stephon Castle and Jeremy Sochan to flourish in their respective roles. The Raptors, Jazz and Wizards have gone the route of resting veteran players, which means names like Isaiah Collier and Kyle Filipowski (Utah), Bub Carrington and AJ Johnson (Washington), and Ja’Kobe Walter and Jamal Shead (Toronto) have been worth a look to varying degrees. San Antonio and Toronto will have a back-to-back to navigate during their respective Week 22 scheduled, but that is not the case for Utah or Washington.
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– Will the Mavericks’ frontcourt return to full strength during Week 22?
Anthony Davis returned from a groin injury last week, but Dallas remained without centers Daniel Gafford (knee) and Dereck Lively II (foot). However, they were considered doubtful for Saturday’s game against the Bulls before being ruled out, and there’s hope that Gafford and Lively will be able to play at some point in the next week. In the hotly-contested race for a play-in spot in the West, the Mavericks play four games during Week 22, ending with a Friday/Saturday road back-to-back against the Clippers. The availability of Gafford and Lively also impacts Kai Jones, who has been worth rostering in deep leagues as the Mavericks’ starting center. Managers who have Jones should hold onto him, as we don’t know when (or if) Gafford and Lively will return, nor do we know what their workloads will look like.
– The Hawks, Clippers and Knicks will have two back-to-backs to navigate.
Beginning with the final day of Week 21, these three teams will have two back-to-backs to deal with over the next week. While Atlanta and New York have Tuesday/Wednesday and Saturday/Sunday back-to-backs, the Clippers have Sunday/Monday and Friday/Saturday. The Knicks are interesting on two fronts. First, Mitchell Robinson will likely be limited to two games during Week 22, as the ultimate goal is for him to be 100 percent for the playoffs. Second, the current state of the team’s point guard rotation.
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Jalen Brunson (ankle) remains out, while Miles McBride (groin) and Cameron Payne (ankle) have also missed time recently. Delon Wright has assumed the starting point guard duties, much to the chagrin of those who wanted to see rookie Tyler Kolek promoted into the role. Playing starters’ minutes gives Wright a shot at fantasy relevance, while Kolek has been elite in the assist-to-turnover department (29 assists and one turnover over his last four games). Regarding the Clippers, managers who have Kawhi Leonard rostered will want to plan for a two-game week from him, which is unfortunate since he’s been on a roll recently.
– The Cavaliers, Pistons and Pelicans won’t play their first game of Week 22 until Wednesday.
Cleveland, Detroit and New Orleans won’t need to be on any fantasy managers’ radars to begin Week 22, as they won’t be active on Monday or Tuesday. The Cavaliers and Pelicans will play their three games on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, while the Pistons end their Week 22 with a Friday/Saturday back-to-back. Managers with Zion Williamson or CJ McCollum rostered have likely already adjusted their rosters, as those two don’t appear likely to see much action down the stretch. Bruce Brown should be back on your radar, as extended minutes and an opportunity to start have raised his fantasy ceiling.
Detroit has been without Cade Cunningham recently, opening a place in the starting lineup for Dennis Schroder, while Marcus Sasser has entered the rotation off the bench. While he did struggle in Detroit’s March 28 win over the Cavaliers, Sasser totaled 47 points in wins over the Pelicans and Spurs. If Cunningham remains out, Detroit’s April 4 game against Toronto (the Pistons host Memphis the following night) could appeal to those willing to consider streaming Sasser.
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– Orlando is the only team not playing a game after Thursday.
While Cleveland, Detroit and New Orleans won’t be active to begin Week 22, the opposite is true for the Magic. Orlando will play its three games during the first four days of the Week, starting with the Clippers on Monday. That’s followed by a game in San Antonio the next night, and the Magic end Week 22 in the nation’s capital on Thursday. Orlando’s point guard situation hasn’t been the best, with Jalen Suggs (knee) out for the season and Cole Anthony (toe) out of the lineup. Cory Joseph has been the replacement in the starting lineup, but Anthony Black offers a higher ceiling. However, the second-year point guard also boasts a lower floor, making it difficult for fantasy managers to commit to Black or Joseph with Anthony out of the lineup.
Light Game Days
Saturday: 5 Games
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NYK vs. ATL
MEM vs. DET
MIN vs. PHI
MIL vs. MIA
DAL vs. LAC
Week 22 Back-to-backs
Sunday (Week 21)-Monday: CHA, HOU, LAC
Monday-Tuesday: CHI, MEM, ORL
Tuesday-Wednesday: ATL, DEN, NYK, SAS
Wednesday-Thursday: MIA, WAS
Thursday-Friday: GSW, LAL, POR, TOR
Friday-Saturday: DAL, DET, LAC
Saturday-Sunday: ATL, MIL, NYK
Sunday-Monday (Week 23): SAC
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