NBA Daily Grind Down: Thursday 4/4

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2013-04-04 19:42:33

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.

As usual on Thursday nights, there are only 3 games on the schedule, but luckily for us, they should be some pretty good games. Hopefully none of the coaches will decide to rest players, but the Spurs are on the schedule so I doubt Pops makes it easy on us. We will have to wait and see, but in the mean time let’s break down tonight’s games:

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.

Chicago @ Brooklyn – 7:00 pm EDT

• Chicago isn’t the same defensively without Noah in the middle and now that Taj Gibson is out as well, the Bulls defense is merely average. Look for Deron Williams to have a big game, I’m expecting somewhere in the range of 20 points and 10 assists. Without the Bulls big men, this could be a game dominated by Brook Lopez, he may even manage to get 5 rebounds! Also, if Wallace and Johnson are out again, look for Marshon Brooks as a value play.
• For the Bulls, all of the injuries really open up some great fantasy plays today. Nazr Mohammed is going to get all of the minutes he can handle, so is Jimmy Butler. I like both of those plays as well as the usual studs in Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng. And yes I said Boozer is a stud, haven’t you seen him with his spray on hair?

Dallas @ Denver – 9:00 pm EDT

• The Mavericks are not fooling anyone with their defense, they are average at best. Look for old man Andre Miller to have another solid game while Lawson is out. I also like both wings for the Nuggets in Andre Iguodala and Danilo Gallinari.
• For the Mavs, I think they will keep this game pretty close since Denver is playing a back to back. You have to think that Dirk Nowitzki is going to do all he can to keep them alive for the playoffs. Expect a big game out of him and for some reason I have a good feeling about O.J. Mayo tonight. Maybe he can finally play up to his potential.

San Antonio @ Oklahoma City – 9:30 pm EDT

• Very good chance that some players are going to get Popped in this one, so instead of breaking down the matchups that may not even matter, I will revisit this section as soon as the Spurs announce their plans.