Fantasy Basketball Sunday Streamers: Best Matchups and Waiver Wire Pickups
Streaming players from three NBA teams with good matchups on Sunday.
Today is Selection Sunday for the NCAA basketball tournament. March Madness is one of the best times on the sports calendar, offering several extended weekends of nonstop action in which upsets and Cinderella's often come out of nowhere.
With the growing inconsequence of the NBA regular season (which I have lamented through the year), March Madness can give us a bit of a reprieve and a taste of basketball that matters until the NBA playoffs begin.
Moving to fantasy basketball, let's look at streaming players from three NBA teams with good matchups on Sunday. We'll focus on the guys who are widely available in fantasy leagues and have good matchups. Most stats are from NBA.com.
Use FantasySP's defensive rankings to find the players and teams with the best matchups every day!
Milwaukee Bucks vs. Indiana Pacers
Indiana plays at the eighth-fastest pace and has the seventh-worst defensive rating. They have been even more vulnerable since the All-Star break, ranking second in pace and holding the third-worst defensive rating. The Pacers are as prime a target as any other team right now.
The Bucks are probably going to miss the postseason altogether. They dropped yesterday's game at Atlanta 122-99, putting them six games below Charlotte for the 10th seed. It will take a mighty finish to reach the play-in tournament.
Guard
Dieng missed yesterday's game with an illness and is questionable here. Dieng has been a new player since coming over from Oklahoma City at the trade deadline, averaging career highs in essentially everything with Milwaukee; that's the magic of getting minutes on a team that isn't absolutely stacked. He's still just a low-to-mid-level streamer at best, but there's a little intrigue moving forward.
Green doesn't get enough minutes to be a fantasy factor with most of the guards healthy, leaving him off our radar.
Forward
Kuzma is generally one of our better streamers, though he doesn't add much outside of scoring. Since the beginning of February, he is around 15 points and 2 3-pointers per game.
Prince is another guy who doesn't get on the court enough to really make a fantasy impact.
Center
Giannis Antetokounmpo missed yesterday's game with a calf strain and is questionable here, something that helps both these guys but especially Portis. He is averaging 13.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2 3-pointers on the season and has been even better shooting and scoring in March.
Sims is in a reserve role and doesn't put up many numbers often, particularly if Giannis is in the lineup.
Utah Jazz vs. Sacramento Kings
We'll finish with a game in which we can target both teams with streamers. Utah has been one of our favorite streaming targets all season, ranking third in pace and last in defensive rating. Their marks are a little better over the past month-plus, but the Jazz still offer a great matchup.
Sacramento is right in the middle in pace over the full season while sporting the third-worst defensive rating. Like Indiana, the Kings have been more friendly to opponents since the All-Star break, ranking sixth in pace and holding the sixth-worst defensive rating. This game is likely to be fast and sloppy, and that can lead to a lot of stats.
Utah Jazz
Guard
Collier has been at his best since the beginning of February. He averaged 17.6 points, 9.5 assists, and 2.3 steals per game in February and is at 16.2, 7.2, and 1 in five March games. He is owned in about 50% of leagues but could be available if you need a guard.
Williams' season-long numbers aren't worthy of fantasy consideration, but he has had probably his best stretch of the season over the past six games, averaging 36.3 minutes, 12.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists. Harkless scored in double figures in two of the past three games, but he is mostly below a fantasy level.
Forward
Bailey is questionable for this game after leaving Friday with concussion symptoms. The fifth overall pick is getting plenty of minutes with Utah far out of the playoff picture, and he is putting up stats as a result, including 16.7 points and 3.2 3-pointers in six March games (and that's with only playing seven minutes before exiting Friday).
Sensabaugh has been hot since the new year, averaging 18.2, 15.6, and 18.1 points per game in January, February, and March, and he is around 2.5 3-pointers in that time. He doesn't add much else, but Sensabaugh is a decent streamer if you need scoring.
Center
Filipowski is another guy who is owned in about half of leagues, and he has stood out recently. In February, he averaged 12.6 points, 8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists, and he has bumped those numbers up in seven March games to 14.9, 10.3, and 4.7, respectively, while also adding 1 blocks and 1.4 steals. Tshiebwe has seized the backup center job over the past week-plus, but he doesn't put up enough numbers to be on our fantasy radar.
Sacramento Kings
Guard
Clifford has averaged more than 30 minutes, 12 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals in both February and March (1.7 steals this month, but close enough). He is a good fantasy player right now on a losing team with a lineup a bit in flux.
Monk has missed the past two games with an ankle injury. He could return here, and if so, he adds decent scoring but not much else. I prefer Clifford right now to Monk.
Forward
Achiuwa has been hot enough since the All-Star break that I finally learned to spell his name every time without double-checking. Yesterday was one of his best, as he finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds, and four blocks, leading the team in the latter two categories. Pick him up.
Plowden has reached double figures in scoring in each of the past four games, taking advantage of extra minutes due to injuries. He doesn't add much else, though, and is a lower-level streamer.
Center
Raynaud is another guy enjoying more court time, averaging 16 points and 9.3 rebounds in March prior to yesterday's game. He was also a major factor against the Clippers last night, finishing with 23 points on 11 of 12 shooting. Raynaud is a good late-season pickup.
