Week 18 is the first full week of NBA action after the All-Star break, and this begins the mad dash to the fantasy playoffs for many managers. After a light Monday schedule with just three games, there will be at least five on every other day, led by double-figure days on Tuesday (11 games) and Thursday (10). There are some teams focused on the draft lottery, but many others are still in the mix for playoff berths or, at the very least, a play-in tournament spot. Let's look at the schedule breakdown for Week 18 and a few of its key storylines.
Week 18 Games Played
4 Games: BKN, BOS, CLE, DAL, DET, HOU, LAL, MEM, MIL, NOR, OKC, POR, SAC, SAS
3 Games: ATL, CHA, CHI, DEN, GSW, IND, MIA, MIN, NYK, PRL, PHI, TOR, UTA, WAS
2 Games: LAC, PHX
Week 18 Back-to-backs
Sunday (Week 17)-Monday: None
Monday-Tuesday: None
Tuesday-Wednesday: BOS, CLE, GSW, MIL, OKC, TOR
Wednesday-Thursday: HOU, SAC, SAS
Thursday-Friday: BKN, DAL
Friday-Saturday: None
Saturday-Sunday: LAL, NOR, POR
Sunday-Monday (Week 19): BOS, DEN, LAC, MIL
Week 18 Storylines of Note
- Avoid the Clippers early in the week, and be ready to move on from the Suns after Thursday.
The Clippers and Suns are the only two teams playing just two games in Week 18. Regarding the Clippers, their non-essential fantasy players won't be viable options until the back end of the week, as they play games on Thursday and Sunday. Hopefully, the time off to begin the week will be enough to get Kawhi Leonard (ankle) and John Collins (head, neck) back into the fold. Both exited Friday's loss to the Lakers due to injury, with the latter being ruled out for the Clippers' final Week 17 game at the time of publishing.
As for the Suns, who have been hit hard by injuries throughout the season, they play their Week 18 games on Tuesday and Thursday. Devin Booker (hip) will be re-evaluated towards the end of the week, which essentially takes him off the board. And during Saturday's double-overtime win over the Magic, Phoenix lost Dillon Brooks (hand) and Jordan Goodwin (calf), with the former out indefinitely due to a broken left hand. Collin Gillespie and Grayson Allen have added fantasy value with those players out, even with Phoenix's poor schedule. However, that may not be the case for Ryan Dunn or Royce O'Neale.
- Five teams play three games over the final four days of Week 18, including the Nets and Lakers.
The Nets, Mavericks, Lakers, Pelicans and Trail Blazers will have the busiest schedules to end Week 18. Brooklyn, Dallas and New Orleans are all teams playing for the future, with the first two focused on improving their draft lottery odds (New Orleans traded its 2026 first-round pick as part of the deal that landed them Derik Queen in last year's draft). And given how those teams have handled the availability of some of their regulars, get ready for players like Day'Ron Sharpe and Danny Wolf in Brooklyn, and Marvin Bagley III in Dallas to emerge as streaming options to end the week.
The Lakers and Trail Blazers are fighting for playoff seeding in the West, with the latter facing seemingly insurmountable odds to get out of the play-in tournament. While the Lakers have gotten back to full strength after the All-Star break, Portland is still dealing with some injury issues. Will they have Deni Avdija (back) for all four of their games in Week 18? Robert Williams (knee) is close to a guarantee to sit out back-to-backs, and it's fair to ask questions regarding Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson as well.
- Golden State and Toronto have the worst schedules to end Week 18.
The Warriors and Raptors only play one game after Wednesday. While the former hosts the Lakers on Saturday in what should be an intense contest, the Raptors visit the Wizards on the same day. And with Washington clearly focused on ensuring its top-8 protected pick doesn't go to the Knicks, the Raptors are likely to face a team without most of its best players on the floor. That could mean a big finish to the week for Brandon Ingram or Scottie Barnes (who missed Toronto's final game of Week 17 for personal reasons).
The question for the Warriors is whether Stephen Curry (knee) will be available at any point during Week 18. His re-evaluation timeline of ten days seemingly rules him out for the Tuesday/Wednesday back-to-back against the Pelicans and Grizzlies. Also, that back-to-back likely limits Kristaps Porziņǵis (Achilles) and Al Horford (back) to two appearances during Week 18. That isn't enough to get Quinten Post back onto the fantasy radar, however.
- The Celtics and Bucks each have two back-to-backs to navigate.
Boston and Milwaukee have back-to-backs on Tuesday/Wednesday and Sunday/Monday during Week 18. The Celtics' first back-to-back is on the road against the Suns and Nuggets in the final games of their current west coast trip, while Milwaukee will play home games against the Heat and Cavaliers.
The game against Cleveland may be one where the Bucks benefit from the Cavaliers being at less than full strength, as they host the Knicks the night prior. If Evan Mobley (calf) were to play against New York, would he be rested in Milwaukee? Given the stakes involved, it would be unsurprising if Mobley sat out the second game.
Milwaukee is still without Giannis Antetokounmpo (calf), and Myles Turner (calf) has missed the last two games due to injury. Boston has been the healthier team recently; fantasy managers will hope that this means the entire roster will be available to begin Week 18.