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Kyle Phillips/Associated Press
The final week of the NBA regular season comes with countless different motivations for the league’s 30 teams.
The most prominent motivation for either teams locked into their playoff seeds, or franchises completing their tank job is that bench players should get more run.
Nine teams have already been eliminated from playoff contention and most of them are relying on backups and former G-League stars to get them through the final week.
Over at the top of the standings, Phoenix and Memphis already know they will be the top two seeds in the Western Conference.
That may lead to more time for role players off the bench in order to give the starters some extra rest prior to the grind of the postseason.
Both situations should open up time for some unlikely fantasy basketball stars to emerge and help your team in a playoff matchup.
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Matt York/Associated Press
Cameron Johnson returned from a month-long injury absence on Friday in a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Johnson then scored 14 points in 32 minutes in a Sunday loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, a game in which Phoenix rested most of its starters.
The Suns need Johnson to get back to full strength ahead of the postseason because he is a key figure off the bench.
Phoenix has the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference locked up, so that may motivate the coaching staff to rest the starters more in the next week.
There are two spots that make sense for rest in the final four games. The first is a Wednesday clash with the Los Angeles Clippers that is the second game of a back-to-back set of contests.
The Clippers are locked into the No. 8 seed in the play-in round and that game means nothing to either squad.
Sunday’s regular-season finale versus the Sacramento Kings also means nothing to either franchise. That is a prime chance for Johnson and other bench players to receive more time.
Johnson will still play against the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz, but he could feature in a bench role in those spots.
The clashes with the Lakers and Jazz are the best opportunities for the Suns starters to compete in a playoff environment before the postseason.
Johnson should receive a decent chunk of minutes in any scenario and the should be worth the waiver-wire pickup as he gets back in action.
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David Zalubowski/Associated Press
Aleksej Pokusevski recorded his first-career triple-double for the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night.
Pokusevski’s increased production does not come as a surprise since the Thunder opened up more playing time for him and others by sitting its injured stars for the rest of the season.
The 2020 first-round pick played over 25 minutes in each of the last 10 games. He has eight double-digit point performances in that span.
Pokusevski chipped in a handful of rebounds and assists in the nine contests prior to his triple-double versus the Suns.
He should put up another eye-popping stat line on Tuesday against the Portland Trail Blazers in a battle of tanking franchises.
Oklahoma City faces three road games at Utah and the two Los Angeles teams to close out the regular season.
The final two games may not be as tough as expected. The Lakers could be eliminated from the play-in round by Friday and the Clippers should rest some players on Sunday ahead of the play-in round as the No. 8 seed.
Pokusevski could thrive against those potentially weakened lineups and that would allow him to pad some fantasy point totals.
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Scott Audette/Associated Press
The Orlando Magic’s rotations have been hard to figure out over the last two weeks.
Cole Anthony, Franz Wagner and others have started games, but they have sat on the bench for long stretches of time.
All of Orlando’s top players should be avoided in the next three games because of the possibility of more rest.
Ignas Brazdeikis has taken advantage of his increased playing time to produce four straight double-digit point performances.
The former Michigan standout spent the majority of his season in the G-League and he has been rewarded with more playing time as the Magic complete their tank.
Brazdeikis played 37 minutes in Sunday’s loss to the New York Knicks. He had 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and knocked a trio of three-point shots.
He could post similar totals against Cleveland, Charlotte and Miami as the Magic try to be somewhat competitive with a weaker roster to try and secure the worst record in the NBA.
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