This article is part of our NBA Category Strategy series.
As this may be the final day of your head-to-head matchup, execute all pertinent transactions and finalize your active lineup before the first game. Additionally, if you realize you're going to win before the last few games are played, benching the rest of your active players to ensure the win becomes the optimal move.
There isn't any basketball this Monday due to the NCAA title game. The final day of the regular season is April 13, and most teams play five or six games between now and then. The Nuggets, Knicks and Trail Blazers are the only teams to play a minimum four times over the next week and a half. All three teams and the Warriors are limited to one game in Week 25. Every other team is slated to play twice in the final week, with almost the entire league playing on the final day, excluding the Knicks and Thunder.
If you've seen the film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, then you know the spectrum of calamities awaiting these teams chasing postseason berths. The top four squads in the West will likely have their seeds secured by Wednesday or Thursday due to the separation in the standings. In the East Conference, seeds three through six are separated by a half-game. The teams opting to improve their draft odds will generate some alternative lineups and cause eyebrow-raising results. We already know DeMarcus Cousins won't play in at least two of the Kings' final five games because
As this may be the final day of your head-to-head matchup, execute all pertinent transactions and finalize your active lineup before the first game. Additionally, if you realize you're going to win before the last few games are played, benching the rest of your active players to ensure the win becomes the optimal move.
There isn't any basketball this Monday due to the NCAA title game. The final day of the regular season is April 13, and most teams play five or six games between now and then. The Nuggets, Knicks and Trail Blazers are the only teams to play a minimum four times over the next week and a half. All three teams and the Warriors are limited to one game in Week 25. Every other team is slated to play twice in the final week, with almost the entire league playing on the final day, excluding the Knicks and Thunder.
If you've seen the film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, then you know the spectrum of calamities awaiting these teams chasing postseason berths. The top four squads in the West will likely have their seeds secured by Wednesday or Thursday due to the separation in the standings. In the East Conference, seeds three through six are separated by a half-game. The teams opting to improve their draft odds will generate some alternative lineups and cause eyebrow-raising results. We already know DeMarcus Cousins won't play in at least two of the Kings' final five games because they're on the road. Knicks' veterans are expected to have their playing time reduced and handed to the neophytes. As Julie Chen likes to quip, "Expect the unexpected."
For the final installment of Category Strategy, I've decided to list multiple options for each category, many of whom are owned in less than 20 percent of leagues, and offer a brief synopsis on their outlook.
Special thanks to my editor, Andrew, and the bossman, Adam, for a stellar season. I hope all the readers enjoyed my weekly musings and won their fantasy leagues.
POINTS
Five Games:
Seth Curry (PG)
Curry was recently demoted to the bench, but that didn't stop him from scoring 17 points Saturday night. Over the past six games, Curry is shooting 52.5 percent from the field, 50.0 percent from the three-point line and 95 percent from the free-throw line while scoring 15.0 points per game. As long as Marco Belinelli (foot) and Omri Casspi (hamstring) remain sidelined, coach George Karl becomes Curry's only impediment to playing time.
Sean Kilpatrick (SG)
Kilpatrick failed to reach double-digit points just once over the past 12 games, a four-point outing against the Cavaliers last week. Brook Lopez, Thaddeus Young, Bojan Bogdanovic and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson have all received rest days over the past week, and that trend is likely to continue.
REBOUNDS
Six Games:
Cody Zeller (PF/C)
Zeller has been an unremarkable contributor to the Hornets' playoff push, but over the past nine games, he's shot 65 percent from the floor and grabbed 7.4 rebounds in 24 minutes per game. Competing for the three seed until the final day of the season, outperforming Al Jefferson, and a league-high six games bode well for Zeller in rotisserie leagues.
Five Games:
Thomas Robinson (PF)
The Nets forward has pulled down 36 rebounds in the last three games, and he's second on the team with 7.6 rebounds per game this month. He's one of the best rebounders in the league, and now that he's been provided unfettered opportunity, so you can take advantage of his lone NBA skill.
Willie Cauley-Stein (PF/C) and Kosta Koufos (PF)
Both players will benefit when DeMarcus Cousins rests, which is confirmed for the final two games of the season, both coming on the road. However, there are nine and 14 games on the nights of the Kings' final road tilts. Both Cauley-Stein and Koufos were questionable heading into Saturday's contest, and even though they played, allowing them additional time to heal when Cousins returns to the lineup could hurt their overall value.
ASSISTS
Six Games:
Toney Douglas (PG) and Tim Frazier (PG/Yahoo! & SG/ESPN)
The last remaining healthy guards and facilitators on the Pelicans, both Douglas and Frazier have accumulated 15 assists over the past two games.
Five Games:
Shane Larkin (PG)
Larkin was suggested last time due to the Nets' five-game week and he didn't disappoint, finishing with 24 assists and nine steals in the first four games, with the final leg scheduled against the depleted Pelicans on Sunday.
Four Games:
Jerian Grant (PG)
The rookie was thrust into the starting lineup with Jose Calderon (knee) expected to miss the rest of the season. Grant, who is probably the healthiest Knick at this point, has played fewer minutes (1,109) this year in 71 games than he did in his senior season at Notre Dame (1,408) in 38 games. He only recorded four assists in his first start, but as key components begin sitting out games, Grant will become a focal point of the offense.
STEALS
Six Games:
Courtney Lee (SG)
Lee leads the Hornets with 1.1 steals per game this month, and that number climbs to 1.8 per game over the last seven.
Five Games:
Jordan Farmar (PG)
Farmar is the Grizzlies' starting point guard, and in his short tenure with the club, he's provided 1.5 steals in 25.6 minutes per game. He's signed for the rest of the season, and as long as he can avoid the hamstring issues that have derailed his NBA career, he'll have to navigate two games against the Warriors. It's a difficult gauntlet, but the Grizzlies lack viable alternatives.
Four Games:
Langston Galloway (PG/SG)
Galloway leads the Knicks with 1.3 steals per game over the past 11. Now that it appears interim coach Kurt Rambis is amenable to dispersing extended playing time to the younger generation, Galloway becomes relevant again.
BLOCKS
Six Games:
Bismack Biyombo (C)
Biyombo has blocked a shot in 15 straight games. Since Jonas Valanciunas returned six game ago, Biyombo is only averaging 1.3 blocks in 17 minutes per game, but if Valanciunas is rested down the stretch, Biyombo becomes the primary beneficiary.
Five Games:
John Henson (PF/C)
Henson has played 865 minutes this season and leads the team with 102 blocks, tied with Giannis Antetokounmpo, who's played 2,608 minutes. Henson is playing 17 minutes per game, yet he is averaging 2.0 blocks per game - tied for fourth most in NBA. If you want blocks, add Henson.
Jerami Grant (SF/PF)
Without Nerlens Noel (knee), Grant becomes the Sixers' best rim protector. However, he has had trouble staying on the court this month, a reason for his depressed ownership. He played 37 minutes Saturday night when a 25-minute limit was imposed prior to tip, so you'll want to make sure he's healthy before Tuesday's game.
THREE-POINTERS
Six Games:
Terrence Ross (SG/SF) and Norman Powell (SG)
The dup leads the Raptors in three-pointers per game over the last six. Toronto is three games back of the Cavaliers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, and they own the tiebreaker. As the season concludes, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan will pile up stray rest days, especially over the final three games against the Knicks, Sixers and Nets.
James Ennis (SF), Luke Babbitt (SF) and Jordan Hamilton (SF/Yahoo! & SG/ESPN)
Aside from Toney Douglas, Ennis, Babbitt and Hamilton lead the Pelicans in three-pointers over the past seven games. Two-thirds of their final six games occur against the worst teams in the NBA (Sixers, Lakers, Suns, and Timberwolves). Ennis and Hamilton are D-League call-ups surviving on 10-day contracts. Hamilton's deal expires Sunday, and Ennis' contract expires on Saturday, but the Pelicans can offer them both a second 10-day contract that would keep them on the roster until the end of the season.
Five Games:
C.J. Miles (SG/SF)
Miles regained the form he exhibited at the beginning of the season. Over the past seven games, he's made at least one three-pointer while leading the team with 2.7 threes per game.
