22/23 Week 8 Schedule Analysis and Streaming Guide

Scheduling
December 3rd, 2022

After this week, we will be 40 percent of the way through the fantasy regular season in most H2H leagues. If you’ve been dealt a bad hand so far—and many of us have given how many injuries we’ve had to deal with—you don’t want to panic, but you do want to start going all out with the streaming. There is plenty of time left in the regular, but we do not want to bank on a late-season comeback. We want to make our move now in case we run into injuries later in the season as well. To make sure that you are picking up the right players, start using the Matchup Tool if you don’t already. That tool makes it very easy to track your matchup and make mid-week adjustments when necessary. It makes testing out different streaming strategies a piece of cake.

Schedule Analysis

We got the usual schedule again, although at least this week, the very busy days are not quite as busy. You’re not a lock to be overloaded on either Wednesday or Friday, which is going to make streaming a lot easier. With only 12 teams having four-game schedules and two teams having two-game schedules, top-100ish players on three-game teams are going to be a little more useful than usual in weekly leagues. They won’t be great starts, but with this being a somewhat quiet week, their Week 8 ranking could end up close to their per-game ranking. All of the Blazers and Spurs are sits in weekly leagues. Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant have been cookin’ lately, but we can’t trust them with Damian Lillard back. Lillard would be startable in weekly leagues with a two-game week if he were at full strength, but we can’t take the risk when he’s coming off of an injury.
There are back-to-back sets starting every day of the week except Thursday. The Heat and Mavericks play on both Monday and Tuesday. The Lakers and Pistons play on both Tuesday and Wednesday. The Clippers are the only team that plays on both Wednesday and Thursday. Friday is the beginning of quite a few back-to-back sets. The Jazz, Wizards, Cavaliers, Nets, Pacers, Wolves, and Mavericks all play on both Friday and Saturday. The Bulls are the only team that play two games over the weekend. The Hawks are the only team that plays on both Sunday of Week 8 and Monday of Week 9.
The Heat play three games in four nights starting on Monday. The Lakers and Pistons start a similar stretch on Tuesday. From Wednesday to Saturday, the Clippers, Jazz, Wizards, Nets, Pacers, and Wolves play three games in four nights. No one plays three games between Thursday and Sunday.
There are a lot of teams that do not start their week until at least Wednesday. The Wolves, Pelicans, Knicks, Jazz, Bulls, Kings, Nets, and Wizards play their first game on Wednesday. The Spurs and Blazers don’t start their Week 8 schedule until Thursday. Dropping role players on those teams on Sunday night for members of the Heat and Mavericks is a great way to pick up two extra games without using a Week 8 move. The Grizzlies do not play on either Saturday or Sunday. You can drop their borderline players for one of the young Hawks that is getting extra run right now to pick up two extra games.
We don’t have to worry about overload as much this week, but if you are full on Wednesday and/or Friday, consider grabbing players from the Heat and Nuggets. Both teams play on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
Speaking of the Heat, they have the easiest schedule this week. That adds to the appeal of their role players and gives the big guns a very high ceiling. The Grizzlies and Pistons are plus matchups and the Spurs are battling with the Rockets for the right to call themselves the biggest cake matchup in fantasy basketball. The Raptors and Hawks also have very fantasy-friendly schedules.
Of the four-game teams, the Suns have the worst schedule by far. Dallas, Boston, and New Orleans twice is as bad as it gets from a fantasy standpoint. All three teams rank among the worst matchups in fantasy basketball. The Lakers also have a tough schedule, although it’s not quite as bad as it looks since Toronto’s defense has fallen apart as of late. Of the three-game teams, the Pelicans have the worst schedule because they play the Suns twice. Only the Pelicans themselves are a worse matchup for fantasy purposes.

Streaming Guide

Monday/Tuesday Back-To-Back Streamers

Max Strus (PTS, 3PM), Caleb Martin (3PM, REB, STL), Gabe Vincent (3PM, AST), Dorian Finney-Smith (3PM, REB, STL), Maxi Kleber (BLK), Tim Hardaway (PTS, 3PM)

Tuesday/Wednesday Back-To-Back Streamers

Dennis Schroder (PTS, AST), Austin Reaves (PTS, 3PM), Patrick Beverley (STL), Troy Brown (REB), Killian Hayes (AST, STL), Alec Burks (PTS, 3PM), Jalen Duren (FG%, REB, BLK), Marvin Bagley (FG%, PTS, REB)

Wednesday/Thursday Back-To-Back Streamers

Reggie Jackson (PTS, 3PM, AST), Nicolas Batum (REB, BLK), Luke Kennard (3PM)

Thursday/Friday Back-To-Back Streamers

None

Friday/Saturday Back-To-Back Streamers

Malik Beasley (PTS, 3PM), Walker Kessler (FG%, REB, BLK), Deni Avdija (REB), Jordan Goodwin (AST), Corey Kispert (3PM), Dean Wade (REB), Caris LeVert (PTS, AST), Joe Harris (PTS, 3PM), T.J. McConnell (AST, STL), Aaron Nesmith (3PM), Andrew Nembhard (3PM, STL), Jaylen Nowell (PTS, 3PM), Jordan McLaughlin (AST), Dorian Finney-Smith (3PM, REB, STL), Maxi Kleber (BLK), Tim Hardaway (PTS, 3PM)

Saturday/Sunday Back-To-Back Streamers

Patrick Williams (STL, BLK), Andre Drummond (REB), Ayo Dosunmu (AST), Alex Caruso (AST, STL), Coby White (3PM)

Sunday/Monday of Week 9 Back-To-Back Streamers

A.J. Griffin (PTS, 3PM), Jalen Johnson (REB, STL), Jarrett Culver (REB, STL), Onyeka Okongwu (FG%, REB, BLK)

Monday to Thursday Three Games in Four Nights

Max Strus (PTS, 3PM), Caleb Martin (3PM, REB, STL), Gabe Vincent (3PM, AST), Reggie Jackson (PTS, 3PM, AST), Nicolas Batum (REB, BLK), Luke Kennard (3PM)

Tuesday to Friday Three Games in Four Nights

Wednesday to Saturday Three Games in Four Nights

Reggie Jackson (PTS, 3PM, AST), Nicolas Batum (REB, BLK), Luke Kennard (3PM), Malik Beasley (PTS, 3PM), Walker Kessler (FG%, REB, BLK), Deni Avdija (REB), Jordan Goodwin (AST), Corey Kispert (3PM), Joe Harris (PTS, 3PM), T.J. McConnell (AST, STL), Aaron Nesmith (3PM), Andrew Nembhard (3PM, STL), Jaylen Nowell (PTS, 3PM), Jordan McLaughlin (AST)

Thursday to Sunday Three Games in Four Nights

None