The fantasy playoff schedule favors Phoenix and Dallas, and punishes New Orleans
Over ESPN's default fantasy playoff weeks, from March 8 to April 4, Phoenix and Dallas play 16 games while five teams play 13, and New Orleans plays only five in the final fortnight.
By James · 2 min read
Devin BookerCooper FlaggZion WilliamsonPhotos: NBAFreeMost fantasy managers draft for the regular season and only look at the playoff schedule in February, when it is too late to do much about it. That is a mistake in any head-to-head league, because the title is decided over two or three weeks in March, and in those weeks the number of games a player's team plays matters as much as how good he is. A team that plays eight games in a fortnight gives you two more chances to score than one that plays six, and across a starting lineup that difference decides close matchups.
We counted every team's games across ESPN's default fantasy playoff calendar for 2026-27, which this season runs a semifinal from March 8 to March 21 and a final from March 22 to April 4. The counts below come straight from the NBA's published schedule. Your own league's playoff weeks may differ, and the Weekly Slate shows any week you choose.
| Team | Semifinal (Mar 8 to 21) | Final (Mar 22 to Apr 4) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phoenix | 8 | 8 | 16 |
| Dallas | 8 | 8 | 16 |
| Atlanta, Denver, Memphis, Sacramento | 8 | 7 | 15 |
| Boston, Charlotte, Detroit, Golden State, Clippers | 7 | 8 | 15 |
| Chicago, Houston, Milwaukee, Minnesota, New York | 6 | 8 | 14 |
| Cleveland, Lakers | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| New Orleans | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| Utah, Washington | 6 | 7 | 13 |
Every other team plays 14 games across the two rounds.
Phoenix and Dallas are the teams to own
Phoenix and Dallas are the only teams with eight games in both rounds, 16 in all. For Dallas that means Cooper Flagg, who we already rank ninth on points, gets as many chances as anyone in the league when it matters most, and Kyrie Irving's back-to-back rest, which we have priced into his 53 projected games, costs a little less when there are this many games to choose from. Phoenix's Devin Booker and its starting center gain the same way.
New Orleans peaks early and fades
New Orleans is the strangest schedule on the board. The Pelicans play eight games in the semifinal, tied for the most, and then only five in the final, the fewest of any team by a full game. Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III and Dejounte Murray are all useful in March 8 to 21 and then leave a gap in your lineup the following fortnight. If you roster two or more Pelicans and reach the final, you will want a streamer ready.
Cleveland and the Lakers are light in the final
Cleveland and the Lakers both play six games in the final fortnight, with 13 across the two rounds. That does not mean avoiding Donovan Mitchell or Luka Dončić in the draft, since the regular season is what gets you to the playoffs, but it does mean that a trade in February that turns one of their secondary players into a Phoenix or Dallas player of the same quality is a real gain.
How to use this
Do not draft for the playoff schedule in the first five rounds, where the quality gap between players is far larger than a game or two. Use it as a tiebreaker from the middle rounds on, and come back to it before your league's trade deadline. The Weekly Slate counts every week of the season, including your own league's playoff weeks once it is synced.
