{"id":241796,"date":"2025-10-26T10:22:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T10:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/241796\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T10:22:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T10:22:07","slug":"fantasy-basketball-week-2-primer-avoid-the-clippers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/241796\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy basketball Week 2 Primer: Avoid the Clippers"},"content":{"rendered":"

To say that the first days of the 2025-26 NBA season were eventful would be an understatement. There were arrests connected to a sports betting scandal<\/a>, including an active player (Terry Rozier) and an active head coach (Chauncey Billups). The reigning champion Thunder required double overtime to win their first two games. Aaron Gordon scored 50 points, shooting 10-of-11 from three, and Victor Wembanyama put forth a mesmerizing performance in San Antonio\u2019s season opener.<\/p>\n

And a lot more went down during Week 1, with fantasy basketball being impacted by it all. Buckle up if that\u2019s a sign of what\u2019s to come in the NBA this season. Let\u2019s look at the Week 2 schedule and some of its essential storylines.<\/p>\n

Week 2 Games Played<\/p>\n

4 Games: ATL, BOS, CHA, CHI, CLE, GSW, LAL, MEM, NOR, OKC, ORL, PHI, PHO, TOR, UTA<\/p>\n

3 Games: BRK, DAL, DEN, DET, HOU, IND, MIA, MIL, MIN, NYK, POR, SAC, SAS, WAS<\/p>\n

2 Games: LAC<\/p>\n

Week 2 Back-to-backs<\/p>\n

Sunday (Week 1)-Monday: BOS, BRK, CLE, DAL, DET, LAL, MIN, POR, SAS, TOR<\/p>\n

Monday-Tuesday: GSW, OKC, PHI<\/p>\n

Tuesday-Wednesday: SAC<\/p>\n

Wednesday-Thursday: ORL<\/p>\n

Thursday-Friday: None<\/p>\n

Friday-Saturday: BOS, IND<\/p>\n

Saturday-Sunday: CHA<\/p>\n

Sunday-Monday (Week 3): BRK, LAL, MEM, MIA, NYK, UTA<\/p>\n

Week 2 Storylines of Note<\/p>\n

– It would be wise to avoid fringe Clippers at all costs.<\/p>\n

Fifteen teams will play four games during Week 2, and another 14 will play three. The Clippers have two games on the schedule: Tuesday night against the Warriors (11 PM Eastern, NBC\/Peacock) and Friday night against the Pelicans. While this may be a positive for the team\u2019s older players, it is not for fantasy managers with any Clippers rostered. The star players will be fine, but what should one do with Bradley Beal? He\u2019s rostered in 88 percent of Yahoo! leagues.<\/p>\n

While many managers may prefer to remain patient this early in the season, Beal totaled 11 points, two rebounds, two assists, one steal and one three-pointer in the Clippers\u2019 first two games. In fairness to him, both of the Clippers\u2019 games were blowouts, limiting Beal to 20 minutes in each. Could a two-game slate prompt fantasy managers to move on from some of the Clippers\u2019 \u201cfringe\u201d fantasy options? It would be understandable if that were the case.<\/p>\n

– The Warriors have another back-to-back to begin Week 2.<\/p>\n

Golden State just completed a Thursday\/Friday back-to-back, losing in Portland one night after picking up a thrilling overtime victory over Denver. Al Horford did not play against the Trail Blazers, and fantasy managers should know what to expect by now. With the second game of the Warriors\u2019 Monday\/Tuesday back-to-back being nationally televised, Monday\u2019s matchup with the Grizzlies could be where Horford sits. Quinten Post started on Friday but only played 16 minutes, with Trayce Jackson-Davis getting 17 minutes off the bench. There may be a similar minutes split for the next game Horford misses, making it difficult to trust either as a streamer.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Kuminga was initially probable for the game against Portland but started and played 24 minutes. With his emergence to begin the season and Moses Moody\u2019s return to action, Week 2 will be crucial for those with Brandin Podziemski (39 percent rostered) on their rosters. Coming off the bench, he\u2019s averaging 8.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 three-pointers in 29.7 minutes through three games. Golden State plays four games during Week 2, and Podziemski\u2019s rebound and steal numbers have been solid, and he\u2019s still playing close to 30 minutes per game. Now isn\u2019t the time to panic, but he\u2019s worth watching.<\/p>\n

– Three teams will play their final game of the week on Friday.<\/p>\n

The Clippers\u2019 Week 2 schedule has already been discussed, but the Nuggets and Trail Blazers also have Week 2 schedules that aren\u2019t great. In addition to playing three games each, those teams are done on Friday, with Portland hosting Denver. A reserve like Denver\u2019s Bruce Brown or Portland\u2019s Jerami Grant becomes less appealing under these circumstances, with the latter off to a hot start after years of fantasy disappointment. For those players who are must-haves in fantasy basketball, the end of Friday\u2019s action will likely be a good time to move on if there\u2019s a need for additional production over the weekend.<\/p>\n

– Three teams, including the Celtics, have two back-to-backs to navigate.<\/p>\n

Boston, Brooklyn and the Lakers will have two back-to-backs during Week 2, with all three having Sunday\/Monday back-to-backs. While Boston\u2019s second is a Friday\/Saturday back-to-back, the Nets and Lakers will have one that includes the first day of Week 3. Of course, the most notable injury issue for any of these teams is LeBron James\u2019 case of sciatica, and he\u2019ll likely be re-evaluated in early November. Backup center Jaxson Hayes (knee) did not play in Friday\u2019s win over the Timberwolves, with the Lakers going small in the minutes that starter Deandre Ayton was not on the court. If Hayes remains out, expect a similar approach, and Jarred Vanderbilt (two steals and two blocks vs. Minnesota) would be worth a look for managers needing defensive production.<\/p>\n

The Nets were without rookies Drake Powell and Danny Wolf for Friday\u2019s loss to the Cavaliers, as both are dealing with ankle injuries. While their absences don\u2019t significantly impact fantasy basketball, this does make for a tidier rotation. Ziaire Williams (one percent rostered) played 27 minutes against the Cavs and put up 25 points and six three-pointers after logging 15 minutes in the season opener.<\/p>\n

– Orlando\u2019s midweek back-to-back could be an issue for Jalen Suggs.<\/p>\n

Suggs did not play at all during the preseason as he recovered from knee surgery, with his first game action occurring in the team\u2019s first two regular-season games. In addition to playing 17 and 19 minutes in games against the Heat and Hawks, he was ruled out for Saturday\u2019s matchup with the Bulls. Neither the minutes limit nor Suggs not playing both games of a back-to-back was surprising. And with the Magic having a Wednesday\/Thursday back-to-back during Week 2, fantasy managers who have him rostered should anticipate a three-game week for Suggs instead of four.<\/p>\n

Tyus Jones was the starting point guard during the preseason, which could make him the likely choice to step in for Suggs. Rostered in six percent of Yahoo! leagues, he\u2019s a safe streaming option when allowed to start. Anthony Black (four percent) is another possibility, but Jones is the superior option based on the overall body of work.<\/p>\n

– Indiana and Charlotte are among the teams to target toward the end of Week 2. <\/p>\n

While there isn\u2019t a particular day during Week 2 to target for streaming purposes, with at least four games every day, some teams have good schedules to end the week. From Wednesday to Saturday, the Celtics, Pacers and Magic are scheduled to play three games in four days. Boston\u2019s most concerning health issue at this stage could be the hamstring issue that Jaylen Brown dealt with during the preseason. With two back-to-backs on the Week 2 schedule, could an injury management day be in the cards for him? Those who have Payton Pritchard rostered should keep the faith, especially with the upcoming schedule, while rookie Hugo Gonz\u00e1lez could be an intriguing option in deep leagues. <\/p>\n

The Pacers have been hit hard by injuries at point guard, with Andrew Nembhard (shoulder) missing time recently. Ben Sheppard is the most intriguing streaming option if Nembhard misses multiple games, with Jarace Walker and even Taelon Peter being next in line. Peter is the closest to a point guard among these three options, but the Pacers will need all hands on deck to account for the absences. Last but not least, in the good end-of-week schedule conversation, Charlotte plays three games in four days from Thursday to Sunday. Rookies Kon Knueppel and Ryan Kalkbrenner are rostered in less than 25 percent of Yahoo! leagues. Both are starting, and the Hornets\u2019 schedule makes them even more worthy of a look in Week 2. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To say that the first days of the 2025-26 NBA season were eventful would be an understatement. There…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-241796","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}