NBA Daily Plays: November 7th, 2013
It’s the first “Three Game Thursday” of the year, and much like nearly every Thursday last season, we’ll have to find a way to either squeeze LeBron into lineups or fade him. He’s a clear-cut #1 play tonight, but who else might be worth targeting? Hint, he looks like a dinosaur and just had a baby!
Guards
- Ty Lawson vs. ATL – The Hawks have struggled against PGs so far this year and continued that trend when Isaiah Thomas came off the bench for Sacramento and lit it up for 29 points on Tuesday. Lawson, and all of the Nuggets, finally seem to have a consistent rotation under Coach Brian Shaw which explains how Lawson has managed to get 35+ minutes in all three of their games so far. Anyways, Lawson has the matchup and the opportunity to put up a big stat line on Thursday and is my favorite PG.
- Patrick Beverley vs. LAL – On most nights I wouldn’t love playing Beverley because his upside is relatively low and finding opportunities with Harden, Parsons and Howard on the floor can be a challenge. But given the short slate, he seems like a worthwhile risk for a low price tag on the majority of sites. He was questionable to play Tuesday and came out to play 29 minutes against Portland and should see between 25-35 minutes again on Thursday against one of the worst defensive backcourts in the league.
- Dwyane Wade vs. LAC – Since sitting out last week, Wade has posted pretty much the same stat line in each of his last 3 games. 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. It’s almost impressive how consistent he’s been with that exact stat-line, but regardless he has a great matchup against J.J. Redick and should hit those nummbers with potentially a little extra on Thursday.
- Xavier Henry vs. HOU – There are only three games today, which kind of leaves you with no choice. You have to play “Lakers Russian Roulette”, especially in what should be a high scoring game against Houston. Pay attention to starting lineups, but my best guess is Xavier Henry. While Henry, Meeks, Young, Blake and about 12 other players split minutes at the 2-3 positions for LA, Henry has looked the most competent and his price tag should give you some relief for some of the bigger names tonight.
Forwards
Yes, LeBron James and James Harden are good plays tonight.
- Blake Griffin vs. MIA – Griffin is probably my favorite dollar for dollar forward option tonight against the Heat. In what should be a fun game to watch, I fully expect Griffin to dominate the Heat inside. Miami’s defense is definitely at it’s weakest inside the paint and Griffin can push LeBron, Battier, Haslem or Bosh around to pick up a bunch of boards.
- Kyle Korver vs. DEN – Korver is being used much more this season and has played 30+ minutes in every game so far. He’s coming off a dud against Sacramento, but he only took 4 total shots as the Hawks dominated the paint. Expect his shot total to go back to about 10-12 a game on Thursday and he can easily pay-off a medium to low price tag.
- Chris Bosh vs. LAC – Bosh should be able to extend Griffin out of the paint and play to his strengths by hitting mid-range jumpers on Thursday. He’s taken a pair of threes in each of the 4 games he’s played this season as well which is an encouraging bonus on sites like DraftKings, DraftDay and FanThrowDown. And hey, he just popped out a velociraptor baby (who I’m officially calling the “Veloci-Baby) so he’s gonna be extra amped up for this one.
Centers
- Al Horford vs. DEN – The Nuggets might be a slightly better interior defense this season but Horford has been plain dominant so far in 2013 and I still don’t really believe Denver can prevent a talented big like Horford from doing whatever he wants inside. Horford now has 40+ fantasy points in each of his last 3 games and is worth the high price tag tonight.
- DeAndre Jordan vs. MIA – Going with the theme of beating the Heat on the glass, we now have DeAndre Jordan. Jordan kicked the year off with back-to-back huge games vs. the Lakers and Warriors then tailed off against the Kings and Rockets. But last night he was back to the good and dominated the Magic inside. The best news for Jordan is that Doc Rivers is keeping him on the floor, he’s played over 30 minutes in every game this year.