Dunkest Fantasy Playoffs: how to play

With the NBA 2026 Playoffs about to begin, we’ve got you covered. Dunkest NBA Fantasy Basketball will continue through the Play-In and Playoffs.

League and draft

As announced at the start of the season, the regular season and Playoffs are part of a single competition. This means each league and draft can decide whether to stop or continue all the way through the Finals.

Here are the available options for the 2026 NBA Playoffs:

• Continue with your current team in the same league until the end of the Playoffs
• Create a new league/draft while keeping your current team and accumulated credits
• Create a new league starting from scratch, with a new team and fewer credits than you currently have

Average scores and teams not on the schedule

• Teams that are on the schedule but marked as resting will receive their average score (including all players on the roster, injured ones as well, plus the coach). This is designed to optimize the NBA calendar as much as possible. As in the regular season, players who receive an average score due to scheduling reasons will NOT get the 1.5x captain bonus if selected as captain.

• Teams NOT on the schedule (players, coaches, and unavailable players) will NOT be considered “resting teams” and will NOT receive an average score, but instead 0 points. These are teams that have been eliminated or have already qualified and are waiting for their next Playoff opponent.

Players per team

During the playoffs, the limit on the number of players you can select from each team changes significantly: while during the regular season it was possible to choose up to a maximum of three players per team, in the decisive phase of the competition this number doubles, reaching six.

Schedule

Due to the frequency of games, the fantasy schedule changes slightly during the Playoffs:

• Each Round will be shorter, typically lasting 2 Turns (2 days), though some will last only 1 Turn
• At the end of each Round, you can make trades as usual to improve your team
• Players and coaches from teams not featured in a given Round schedule (usually because they may not play on those days) will not incur any loss in value

In short, the NBA Playoffs don’t just change the pace of the league—they also change the way fantasy basketball is played. It takes more attention, more strategy, and a bit of instinct to manage rotations and scheduling. Whether you stick with your current team or start fresh, this is where things get interesting.