Fantasy Basketball Playoff Primer, Part 4: 76ers are best team to stack — Week 20 schedule analysis

When we turn the calendar over to March, Week 20 will mean something different depending on where you are in your fantasy basketball league. Play? Preparing? Are you still grinding? Three scenarios this week, three different plans. let’s go!

More playoff primers

Week 20 schedule at a glance

To see each roster’s team games, check out Hashtag Basketball’s advanced schedule.

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Are you in the playoffs?

Whether it’s amassing more total points than your opponent or winning at least five categories, the actions you take (or don’t take) determine the outcome of the match.

Quality meets quantity

Week 20 has one team playing five games, 15 teams playing four games, 13 teams playing three games, and one team playing just two games – the New Orleans Pelicans.

5 games: personal health index

4 games: BKN, CLE, DAL, DEN, DET, GSW, IND, LAC, MEM, MIL, MIN, NYK, SAC, TOR, UTA

3 games: ATL, BOS, CHA, CHI, HOU, LAL, MIA, OKC, ORL, PHO, POR, SAS, WAS

2 games: nor

The teams I prioritize for live streaming are:

• 76ers — The only team in the league to play five games in Week 20. Five games on Monday mean guaranteed starts

• jazz — Four games will land on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday — No B2B, one game every other night, all week

• Knicks — Same overnight rhythm as Utah: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, avoid the big slabs.

Philadelphia is the best team in Week 20

There are five games throughout the week starting on Monday. Joel Embiid (slash) will miss the next three games and will be reevaluated thereafter. Even if Embiid returns, it’s unlikely we’ll see him play in back-to-back games for the Sixers. Andre Drummond is a must-have player across formats, while Quentin Grimes, Dominic Barlow and even Trendon Watford are options worth considering in deeper leagues. The number of games provides a strategic advantage in points and 9-cat leagues, but this has less impact in high-scoring games. Still, I’ll be targeting players from one of the 10 teams playing Monday to get an early, easy start.

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Other teams that could consider playing three games over four nights to start this week are:

• brooklyn nets — Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. — Day’Ron Sharpe, Nolan Traoré and Danny Wolf are likely early-week options.

• memphis grizzlies — Monday, Tuesday, Thursday — part of four games per week, including Friday (two full B2B games)

• denver nuggets — Monday, Wednesday, Thursday — four games in total. Guys like Tim Hardaway Jr. become fantasy relevant in deeper leagues.

The Grizzlies’ schedule is notable for one specific reason: They have two sets of back-to-back games — Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday. Memphis plays Brooklyn on Monday, Philadelphia on Tuesday, hosts Dallas on Thursday before traveling to Detroit on Friday. This dual back-to-back schedule will almost certainly trigger rest decisions for certain veterans, meaning role players like Cam Spencer become more valuable because he doesn’t have the B2B rest treatment that guards like Ty Jerome and Scottie Pippen Jr. have received recently with the management style. If you’re in a 12-team league and Spencer is in danger, this week is the perfect time to grab him. Also, keep an eye out for Santi Aldama and Cedric Coward returning on Tuesday.

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The Jazz and Knicks are your “set and forget” streaming options. Both teams play four games at an every-other-night pace – Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday – meaning there’s no risk of back-to-back fatigue and a clean start on each easy day of the week. For the Jazz, Kyle Filipowski, Isaiah Collier, Ace Bailey, and John Konchar are the players I would pick from the list. There are far fewer options to choose from for New York, but hey, maybe Jose Alvarado can be a cheap source of assists and steals.

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Who to avoid and when

The Pelicans are obviously a tough team to win in both games, but here’s how it actually plays out. New Orleans only plays on Wednesday and Friday — meaning there are two chances on the roster this week. Give up any of the Pelicans’ edge players before Wednesday and use the position to play for a better team on Monday and Tuesday. Then, after Friday’s games, the weekend slots become available again – with seven games and plenty of live goals on both Saturday and Sunday. Don’t just bench a player who has played two games and move on; Be active in the place. To me, the Pelicans in that bubble were Derik Queen, Jeremiah Fears, Herb Jones and Yves Missi.

Another thing working in your favor this week: Tuesday was the only day 11 games were scored in double digits. Every other game – including Monday’s five-game live window and Wednesday’s six-game set – gives you a manageable board to target the best available matchups without getting buried. Give yourself at least one spot in this week’s game and play your best game every night.

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Is there a bye week? Now, stay one step ahead

You’ve made it to the playoffs, so start planning and scouting.

Looking ahead to Week 21 outliers: The Suns and Washington both jump to five games in Week 21. We should have more information on Devin Booker by then, but I’d still look at Royce O’Neal in the shallow leagues and Oso Iguodaro in the deeper leagues. Washington was hard to pin down because it looked like all of their players were either resting or playing 20 minutes before being pulled. I’ll check out Ke’Shaun George, but I’ll probably have more confidence in Will Riley, Bilal Koulibaly and Trae Johnson the rest of the way. The Pelicans also resume four games in Week 21, so letting Trey Murphy III have a quiet two games will hopefully pay off. Adding the aforementioned waived Pelicans fringe players certainly plays a role as well.

Study your group’s opponents: For a 9-cat league, pull your opponent’s last few games and see how they won (or lost). For high scores, play a lane game and see if any teammates feel desperate and stressed out by the superior players. This happens more than you think when injuries pile up in March.

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Self-audit: What categories have you been losing? Don’t fix everything – pick one or two that you can actually flip. Here are your targets for this week’s roster moves. And make sure you have at least one or two spots behind the bench available for live broadcasts — things have gotten weird in silly season, so you’ve got to be prepared to poach backup-level players who have the potential to become league champions.

What if your playoff run hasn’t started yet?

You still have time — the fantasy basketball trade deadline isn’t over yet. Do something!

• Take action before Thursday’s deadline: Look at the schedule and replace players who are out of form or suffering from injuries. Shift them to players who have volume and quality games, rather than those who offer fewer advantages.

• Active live broadcast this week: Every win is important for seeding or advancing. Look at the four teams opening the week playing three games in four nights. Keep in mind that Mondays and Wednesdays have lower trade volumes, making it easier to maximize your trades if a player can win multiple games in your lineup.

• Scouting the next two weeks: No matter who you play against in the first round, start getting their stats now. Same process – find their weaknesses, find your weaknesses and get ready for the game before the week comes.

Get ready because Monday will be here before you know it. I’ll be running this column again for fantasy managers as the playoffs begin in Week 21. Please stay tuned.