25/26 Week 22 Schedule Analysis and Streaming Guide

We have a very tricky schedule for what will be the finals in the majority of H2H leagues. Most teams will have a full roster on Wednesday and will have limited starting spots available on Monday, Friday, and Sunday. Because of all of the very busy nights, we will need to switch up our streaming strategy this week. It’s going to be tougher than usual to pick up extra games through back-to-back sets. For many teams, the best way to pick up extra games next week will be by replacing players who play on the busy nights with players who play on the quieter nights. If you aren’t already using the Matchup Tool, change that. It will make navigating Week 22 much, much easier.

I know this is the final week of the season for many subscribers, so let me say THANK YOU for another great year. I really appreciate everyone who allows me to do this for a living. I consider myself very lucky to be in this position. I especially appreciate everyone who recommends the site both online and offline. It makes an enormous difference. I hope to see you again next year. I have at least one major addition to the site coming down the pipe. A draft tracker for Yahoo drafts is in the final stages of production. I’ve put a lot of time and money into this year. It should be good to go shortly after Yahoo and the site opens next year. At some point in the fall, I’ll be reaching out to some users to help me test the tool. If you have any other ideas for tools (or new content) you would like to see, please reach out. I’m always looking for ways to expand the site’s offerings.

Schedule Analysis

Four-game teams: ATL, BKN, CHA, CHI, DEN, DET, GSW, HOU, IND, LAC, MEM, MIA, MIL, NOR, OKC, ORL, POR, SAC, TOR, UTA

Three-game teams: BOS, CLE, DAL, LAL, NYK, PHI, SAS, WAS

Two-game teams: MIN, PHO

Due to the unbalanced schedule, many of this week’s back-to-back sets will not be particularly useful. Unless you are extremely lucky (or beat up), the back-to-back sets tied to Wednesday won’t be helpful. To pick up extra games, we need to target the teams that play on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The four-game teams that play on at least two of those days are the Hornets, Pelicans, Magic, and Kings. The Knicks only have three games next week, but since two of their games come on Tuesday and Thursday, they are also a team to target. If you need big man numbers next week, Mitchell Robinson is an outstanding option for the first half of the week. The best streaming options on the Hornets, Pelicans, Magic, and Kings are Coby White, Herb Jones, Yves Missi, Tristan da Silva (assuming Franz Wagner and Anthony Black continue to sit), Wendell Carter Jr., and Nique Clifford. Ryan Kalkbrenner, Derik Queen, Dylan Cardwell, Daeqwon Plowden, and Killian Hayes are also worth considering.
There are quite a few teams that only play on the four days with nine or more games. Those teams are the Nets, Warriors, Rockets, Pacers, Clippers, Heat, Thunder, Blazers, and Raptors. The three-game teams that only play on the busy days are the Mavericks, Lakers, Knicks, and Wizards. If you can only start one of your low-end players a couple of times next week due to overload on the busy days, those players are great candidates to be swapped out for members of the Hornets, Pelicans, Magic, Kings, and Knicks.
If this is the final week in your league, everyone on the Wolves is droppable. Donte DiVincenzo, Ayo Dosunmu, and Jaden McDaniels can be dropped prior to the start of the week. It’s fine to hold Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert until Wednesday and then drop, but it’s also fine to turn their spots into a streaming spot prior to the start of the week. Neither player will be more than a back-end asset in Week 22 due to the schedule. It’s fine to hold your Suns for the Tuesday quality game. After that game, everyone on the Suns except for Devin Booker is an automatic drop if this is your final week. Booker will also be very droppable. However, the gap between the Suns’ two games needs to be considered before you make that move. If you drop Booker on Wednesday morning, he will clear waivers by Saturday, which may give your opponent the opportunity to pick him up. When considering whether or not to drop Booker, take into consideration what is happening in the other matchups and what the waiver wire priority/budget of the remaining teams are. If your opponent doesn’t have the highest waiver or budget of the teams allowed to make pickups, dropping Booker and potentially getting five or six games out of his roster spot becomes very appealing. If this is not your final week, then whether or not to drop Randle and Booker should come down to how comfortable you are with your odds of advancing. If you are an underdog, consider dropping and figuring out Week 23 when you get there. In weekly leagues, all of the players with two-game schedules are sits.
This could be a two-game week for Jayson Tatum. That’s not a major issue in daily H2H leagues, but in weekly leagues, it is something to consider when deciding on your starters. With the Hornets and Hawks being similar-level teams, and both games being on the road, it is very hard to say which night the forward will sit. Joel Embiid sounds like he’s going to return very soon. With the Sixers having three games next week, and no back-to-back sets, he is a viable start in weekly leagues. He is also someone to gamble on in daily leagues if he was dropped during his latest extended absence. The Cavaliers also have a three-game schedule that includes a back-to-back set. Given where they are in the standings, I wouldn’t expect any rest days, but it’s something to keep in mind.
There are back-to-back sets starting on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
- The Magic begin a back-to-back set on Monday.
- The Nuggets and Cavaliers begin a back-to-back set on Tuesday.
- The Pistons begin a back-to-back set on Wednesday.
- The Pelicans begin a back-to-back set on Thursday.
- The Grizzlies, Bulls, Hawks, and Jazz begin a back-to-back set on Friday.
- The Kings, Bucks, and Hornets begin a back-to-back set on Saturday.
- The Wizards, Heat, Celtics, and Thunder begin a back-to-back set on Sunday.
There are three-games-in-four-night stretches beginning on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
- The Magic and Pistons start a three-games-in-four-nights stretch on Monday.
- The Nuggets, Cavaliers, and Pelicans start a three-games-in-four-nights stretch on Tuesday.
- The Jazz, Pistons, Grizzlies, Bulls, and Hawks start a three-games-in-four-nights stretch on Wednesday.
- The Kings, Pelicans, and Hornets start a three-games-in-four-nights stretch on Thursday.
The breaks in the schedule we should be aware of next week are as follows:
- The Wolves, Celtics, and Wizards do not begin their Week 22 schedule until Wednesday. If you don’t already have a full roster on Monday, dropping their low-end pieces for members of the Magic will allow you to pick up two extra games using just one move.
- The Suns do not play on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.
- The Sixers, Suns, Bucks, Spurs, and Wolves do not play on either Thursday or Friday.
- The Magic and Knicks do not play on either Friday or Saturday.
- The Mavericks, Cavaliers, and Lakers finish their Week 22 schedule on Friday. Dropping the borderline options (or anyone on the roster if next week is your final week of the season) after Friday for members of the Kings, Bucks, and Hornets will allow you to pick up two extra Week 22 games using just one move.
Ease doesn’t matter much this week due to the unbalanced nature of the schedule. However, there are a couple of very juicy four-game schedules. Portland plays four tanking teams and the Warriors play three, with their fourth matchup being against the Nuggets, who have been an average matchup for fantasy purposes this year. If you are fortunate enough to not have to deal with overload on the busy days, the role players on both teams will be very strong streaming targets. The Rockets also get three games against teams that will not be in the playoffs.
The Pelicans have—by far—the most difficult Week 22 schedule. However, we still want to target their role players since they play on the quiet days. None of the three-game teams have particularly difficult schedules.

Streaming Guide

Monday/Tuesday Back-To-Back Streamers

Tristan da Silva (FT%, PTS, 3PM, REB, STL), Wendell Carter Jr. (PTS, REB), Jett Howard (3PM)

Tuesday/Wednesday Back-To-Back Streamers

Wednesday/Thursday Back-To-Back Streamers

Daniss Jenkins (PTS, 3PM, AST, STL), Kevin Huerter (PTS, 3PM, STL), Caris LeVert (PTS, 3PM, AST, STL), Ron Holland (STL), Marcus Sasser (PTS, 3PM), Tobias Harris (FT%, PTS, REB, STL)

Thursday/Friday Back-To-Back Streamers

Karlo Matkovic (REB, BLK), Yves Missi (FG%, REB, BLK), Derik Queen (REB, BLK), Jeremiah Fears (PTS, AST), Herb Jones (3PM, STL)

Friday/Saturday Back-To-Back Streamers

Javon Small (PTS, 3PM, AST, STL), Cam Spencer (PTS, 3PM, AST), Olivier-Maxence Prosper (PTS, 3PM, REB, STL), Walter Clayton (AST), Taylor Hendricks (PTS, 3PM, REB, STL, BLK), Jaylen Wells (PTS, 3PM, STL), Rayan Rupert (STL), Tre Jones (FG%, PTS, AST, STL), Leonard Miller (PTS, REB), Collin Sexton (PTS, 3PM, AST), Nick Richards (REB, BLK), Rob Dillingham (PTS, 3PM, AST), Zaccharie Risacher (3PM), Cody Williams (PTS, REB, AST), Oscar Tshiebwe (FG%, REB), E.J. Harkless (PTS, 3PM, AST), Andersson Garcia (REB, STL)

Saturday/Sunday Back-To-Back Streamers

Dylan Cardwell (REB, BLK), Killian Hayes (AST), Daeqwon Plowden (PTS, 3PM, STL), Nique Clifford (PTS, 3PM, REB, AST, STL), Ousmane Dieng (PTS, 3PM), Kyle Kuzma (PTS, 3PM), A.J. Green (3PM), Cam Thomas (PTS), Ryan Kalkbrenner (FG%, REB, BLK), Coby White (PTS, 3PM, AST), Moussa Diabate (FG%, REB, BLK)

Sunday/Monday of Week 23 Back-To-Back Streamers

Will Riley (PTS, 3PM), Tre Johnson (PTS, 3PM), Tristan Vukcevic (PTS, 3PM, REB), Bub Carrington (PTS, 3PM, AST), Jaden Hardy (PTS, 3PM), Jamir Watkins (STL), Davion Mitchell (3PM, AST), Pelle Larsson (FT%, PTS, AST), Dru Smith (STL), Sam Hauser (3PM), Baylor Scheierman (3PM), Cason Wallace (STL), Aaron Wiggins (PTS, 3PM), Isaiah Joe (PTS, 3PM), Ajay Mitchell (FT%, PTS, 3PM, AST, STL), Lu Dort (3PM), Jaylin Williams (3PM, REB)

Monday to Thursday Three Games in Four Nights Streamers

Tristan da Silva (FT%, PTS, 3PM, REB, STL), Wendell Carter Jr. (PTS, REB), Jett Howard (3PM), Daniss Jenkins (PTS, 3PM, AST, STL), Kevin Huerter (PTS, 3PM, STL), Caris LeVert (PTS, 3PM, AST, STL), Ron Holland (STL), Marcus Sasser (PTS, 3PM), Tobias Harris (FT%, PTS, REB, STL)

Tuesday to Friday Three Games in Four Nights Streamers

Christian Braun (FG%, PTS, REB, STL), Tim Hardaway Jr. (PTS, 3PM), Bruce Brown (STL), Jonas Valanciunas (REB), Sam Merrill (PTS, 3PM), Keon Ellis (3PM, STL, BLK), Dean Wade (REB), Dennis Schroder (AST), Karlo Matkovic (REB, BLK), Yves Missi (FG%, REB, BLK), Derik Queen (REB, BLK), Jeremiah Fears (PTS, AST), Herb Jones (3PM, STL)

Wednesday to Saturday Three Games in Four Nights Streamers

Daniss Jenkins (PTS, 3PM, AST, STL), Kevin Huerter (PTS, 3PM, STL), Caris LeVert (PTS, 3PM, AST, STL), Ron Holland (STL), Marcus Sasser (PTS, 3PM), Tobias Harris (FT%, PTS, REB, STL), Javon Small (PTS, 3PM, AST, STL), Cam Spencer (PTS, 3PM, AST), Olivier-Maxence Prosper (PTS, 3PM, REB, STL), Walter Clayton (AST), Taylor Hendricks (PTS, 3PM, REB, STL, BLK), Jaylen Wells (PTS, 3PM, STL), Rayan Rupert (STL), Tre Jones (FG%, PTS, AST, STL), Leonard Miller (PTS, REB), Collin Sexton (PTS, 3PM, AST), Nick Richards (REB, BLK), Rob Dillingham (PTS, 3PM, AST), Zaccharie Risacher (3PM), Cody Williams (PTS, REB, AST), Oscar Tshiebwe (FG%, REB), E.J. Harkless (PTS, 3PM, AST), Andersson Garcia (REB, STL)

Thursday to Sunday Three Games in Four Nights Streamers

Dylan Cardwell (REB, BLK), Killian Hayes (AST), Daeqwon Plowden (PTS, 3PM, STL), Nique Clifford (PTS, 3PM, REB, AST, STL), Karlo Matkovic (REB, BLK), Yves Missi (FG%, REB, BLK), Derik Queen (REB, BLK), Jeremiah Fears (PTS, AST), Herb Jones (3PM, STL), Ryan Kalkbrenner (FG%, REB, BLK), Coby White (PTS, 3PM, AST), Moussa Diabate (FG%, REB, BLK)