NBA Daily Grind Down: Friday 3/29

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2013-03-29 16:22:25

The RotoGrinders NBA Grind Down article will give you an in-depth analysis into the NBA schedule each night. This article will break down the defense vs. position rankings for every single game and give you analysis on where you can exploit these matchups.

While matchups are a major factor in daily fantasy basketball, there are plenty of other factors to consider such as injuries, minutes, and salaries. The analysis should point you in the right direction, but it is still up to you to decipher the information and make your own selections.

Fridays are always everyone’s favorite day of the week. Typically I like to get off work, drink a couple of JackandSoda’s, kick back and take a little Naap, then wake up and Chop something up to put on the grill. After that, I TakeOVER the television and turn it to the PrimeTime games of the evening. Then if all goes as planned, log in to my favorite sites and see my balances increase. Hopefully today’s Grind Down can help you do the same:

NOTES:

1) Defense vs. Position rankings are how well a team defends against a certain position. The ranking is for the team that it is listed under, NOT the opponent.
2) Rankings are as follows: 30 is the worst defense against a position, 1 is the best.
3) Last 10 Game Data is collected at the start of each week. It will be updated each Sunday for the upcoming week.

Washington @ Orlando – 7:00 pm EDT

• I do the grind down almost every single day and even I am a little surprised by the Wizards defensive rankings over their last 10 games. They rank in the top 5 against 3 positions which just doesn’t seem like it could be the Wizards. But even with those good rankings, it’s going to be hard to stay away from the Maurice Harkless, Tobias Harris, and Kyle O’Quinn bandwagon, especially after their huge games the other night against Charlotte. If you can get any of them for a decent price tonight, go for it because Vaughn is playing the young guys all the minutes they can handle. Jameer Nelson also is a good play, his matchup is there and he looks like he is enjoying running with these young guys.
• Orlando has two rankings in the red in their last 10 games, but they are such a bad team that I wouldn’t put any stock into those numbers. Look for John Wall to continue his hot play, he probably won’t have another 47 point game, but I think he will put up some big numbers. Also for the Wizards, Emeka Okafor could be a good pick as even Bismack Biyombo had a big game against the Magic.

Atlanta @ Boston – 7:30 pm EDT

• Atlanta is ranked 29th against Centers over their last 10 games, but Al Horford is still a good defender and the Celtics don’t really have a Center right now with KG out. Jeff Green makes a nice play against Josh Smith, Green has been filling up all areas of the stat sheet and should be close to 30 fantasy points again. Outside of Green, Pierce makes a decent play and Jordan Crawford could be good if he is back in the starting lineup.
• The Celtics’ defense has really struggled without KG in their lineup. Look for Al Horford and Josh Smith to both have big nights against the weak interior defense of the Celtics. This is a rare game when I actually wouldn’t mind having both in my lineup, but if you have to choose between the two, I would roll with Horford.

Philadelphia @ Cleveland – 7:30 pm EDT

• The Sixers have struggled against PG’s and Centers all season long, but it’s hard to trust Tyler Zeller these days. I think Shaun Livingston could put up a good game, he might be a little cheaper than usual too. Outside of Livingston, their are too many options tonight to waste a roster spot on one of the Cavs.
• The Cavs defense has nothing but yellow and green rankings. That is typically a green light to take players against them. Jrue Holiday has been either getting 50 or 10 fantasy points lately, and I think you can expect him to be closer to 50 than 10 tonight. Thaddeus Young also has a great matchup and has been playing bad lately so you might be able to get him at a discount. Last but not least, Spencer Hawes is on a tear, he might be too expensive, but if not, expect another solid game out of him.

Toronto @ Detroit – 7:30 pm EDT

• Typically you want to avoid PG’s and SF’s against Toronto, both Kyle Lowry and Rudy Gay are good defenders. The other positions offer good matchups though and I think Greg Monroe could be in for a really big night. However, it looks like Andre Drummond is going to be back tonight which will make things interesting. If you can get him for dirt cheap, he may be worth it.
• The Pistons have been at the bottom of the rankings against every position over the last 10 games. They are just playing terrible defense and the choice of which Raptors to take is really yours. I would just take whichever players seem the most underpriced between Kyle Lowry, Rudy Gay, and Jonas Valanciunas.

Charlotte @ New York – 7:30 pm EDT

• When I said Detroit was terrible at defense lately, at least they haven’t been terrible on defense all season long as is the case with the Bobcats. Did you happen to see the lines that Tobias Harris and Kyle O’Quinn put up against them last game? The Bobcats can’t stop anyone, the only problem with taking Knicks is that this will likely be a blowout. But J.R. Smith is usually a good play regardless of blowout potential because he plays a lot of garbage time. Outside of him, if you want to get risky, both Carmelo Anthony and Kenyon Martin have good matchups.
• The Knicks defense is good and has even played pretty well without Tyson Chandler in the lineup. I don’t like Kemba Walker today because his price went up after last game and he typically struggles on the road. I’m not going to waste my money on the Bobcats today.

Miami @ New Orleans – 8:00 pm EDT

• The line of this game seems a bit low which usually means Vegas knows a lot more than I do. The line is only 7 tonight which makes all of the Heat players possible picks. Lebron James has been on a tear and is a must play on a site like FanDuel that caps their salaries. Chris Bosh is guy that could be a good play across a few sites. He is usually pretty cheap as far as Centers go and draws a great matchup against Robin Lopez.
• For the Hornets, it’s really hard to take any of them against the Heat. But I am going to go outside of the box here and say that Anthony Davis tops 30 fantasy points tonight. Udonis Haslem is not an offensive player and I think Davis is going to be able to roam around defensively and pick up some blocks and rebounds along the way. You heard it here, 30+ fantasy points for Davis. Scratch that, let’s get weird, 35+ fantasy points for the BROW!

Oklahoma City @ Minnesota – 8:00 pm EDT

• OKC ranks pretty high defensively against PG’s and big men. That makes it a little iffy taking either Ricky Rubio or Nikola Pekovic. And outside of those two, the rest of the T-Wolves are way too inconsistent for my tastes. I think Rubio could have a nice night, but there are so many other options out there.
• The T-Wolves have struggled against Centers recently, but now that Pekovic is back, that ranking doesn’t mean anything. I love the matchup for Russell Westbrook today, he has been down a bit lately which makes him very affordable and he should have a monster game going against Rubio. He is bigger, stronger, and faster than Rubio.

Houston @ Memphis – 8:00 pm EDT

• When great offenses meet great defenses, it usually ends up in a game that is somewhere in between. That means the Rockets will likely score less than usual and the Grizzlies will likely score more than usual. To me, that says stay away from Rockets and play the Grizzlies. I love Mike Conley in this one tonight, he seems to top the 30 fantasy point mark on a nightly basis and has a great matchup against Jeremy Lin. Zach Randolph is also another guy that you might want to consider, he has been so bad that his price is very very low.

L.A.Clippers @ San Antonio – 8:30 pm EDT

• Big game for the Clippers. They want to be seen as one of the top teams in the league and beating the Spurs in San Antonio may be just what they need. The Clippers defense is really solid, but you have to think that a couple of players on the Spurs will have good games, the problem is that we don’t know who it will be. I’m staying away from the Spurs.
• On the other side of the ball, I think Chris Paul is going to come out and try to take over this game early. His numbers against the Spurs in the past aren’t particularly great, but CP3 loves big games and I think he plays well tonight. He may be too expensive to play anyway, but if he is affordable, he is a good option.

Brooklyn @ Denver – 9:00 pm EDT

• The Nets are a team that no one seems to talk or care about. They have a great defense and have been playing some good basketball lately, yet you don’t hear very much about them. The only guy that I would think about on the Nuggets tonight is Andre Miller. It sounds like Ty Lawson is going to be out again and he is so crafty I think he could have a nice night against D-Will.
• For the Nets, there are plenty of favorable matchups. I will start with Deron Williams and Brook Lopez. Both have the matchups and have been playing well lately. Reggie Evans is a guy that is so cheap on some sites that you may want to at least consider him after his 20/20 game the other night.

Utah @ Portland – 10:00 pm EDT

• Utah is not a very good defensive team to begin with, especially on the road. Expect your usual games out of LaMarcus Aldridge, Damian Lillard and J.J. Hickson. All decent options depending on their prices. But the guy that I think could be a great pick in a GPP is Nicolas Batum. He averages over 30 fantasy points at home, fills up the stat sheet, and draws a solid matchup against Marvin Williams. The Jazz haven’t been very good against SF’s lately because Corbin for whatever reason has stopped giving DeMarre Carroll minutes.
• For the Jazz, they usually have too little of minutes to spread around to trust any of their big men, but with Enes Kanter dislocating his shoulder, that gives a bump to all three of the other Jazz big men. Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap, and Derrick Favors are all in play tonight. I certainly wouldn’t take all three, but you can’t go wrong with taking one of them.