NBA Daily Grind Down: Wednesday 4/10

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2013-04-10 19:44:49

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.

It is a fairly busy night in the NBA tonight, but as always during this time of the season, there are quite a few blowout potential games. It’s a tough decision whether to avoid the guys in those games or to just take them and hope for the best. I’m not sure there is a right answer for it and I think you have to take it on a game by game basis. Hopefully we can tell you the right ones to avoid.

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.

Detroit @ Cleveland – 7:00 pm EDT

• The Pistons have been surprisingly good against the Center position which is a bit strange because most of the season they were near the bottom of the league. I suppose Mr. Drummmond returning has something to do with that. The Pistons struggle against all other positions though and I think both Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson are good plays today. Thompson has to be cheap though because he is very inconsistent.
• The Cavs are even worse defensively than the Pistons and that’s pretty hard to do. I like both of the Pistons bigs in this one. Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe should both get double doubles.

Milwaukee @ Orlando – 7:00 pm EDT

• Milwaukee has a pretty average defense and they are playing in a back to back after losing to Miami last night. Look for the young guys on the Magic to keep getting around 40 minutes. Beno Udrih, Tobias Harris, and Nikola Vucevic all have good matchups and you won’t have to worry about them not getting a full complement of minutes. This time of year that is important.
• The Magic are bad defensively and even though they have a couple of red rankings, I don’t think they mean much. Brandon Jennings is playing well and has a solid matchup and this is a game that Larry Sanders could excel in. Ersan Ilyasova is another guy that is really inconsistent, but has big upside so you can decide if he is worth the risk.

Atlanta @ Philadelphia – 7:00 pm EDT

• The Hawks give up big fantasy games to PF’s and PG’s. I think Thaddeus Young is a great play today. He has been down recently so his price is cheap and he has the matchup. Jrue Holiday is in the same boat as Young, he is much cheaper than usual because of his poor play, but that just means that he is more affordable for you.
• The Sixers gave up monster nights to both Brook Lopez and Reggie Evans last night and the combo of Josh Smith and Al Horford is a lot better than the Nets combo. I think they should both play well and have similar upside so I would take the cheaper of the two.

Miami @ Washington – 7:00 pm EDT

• Way too many red rankings in this game for my liking, but with the Heat resting some of their stars every game, that certainly changes things. I’m sure that the Heat will rest some again today which is good news for the Wizards. John Wall has been on fire lately and will likely keep it up tonight. Nene Hilario is also in play tonight due to how cheap he is on a few sites.
• For the Heat, it all depends on the injuries. If the stars sit, then plug in the bench guys that are going to get big minutes. Chalmers, Lewis, Miller, and Allen are all in play depending on the injuries.

Brooklyn @ Boston – 8:00 pm EDT

• The Nets are playing some great basketball right now and have really shut down opposing positions with the exception of SG. However, Avery Bradley just doesn’t have enough good fantasy games to be worth taking tonight. I don’t like any of the Celtics if they all play again. KG, Pierce, and Green all steal stats from each other.
• The Celtics have been solid against PG’s thanks to Bradley, but have struggled everywhere else. If Garnett plays again, then I don’t love Brook Lopez, but if KG sits, then Brook should have a huge advantage over anyone guarding him.

Phoenix @ Dallas – 8:30 pm EDT

• The Suns are not playing well right now and they are playing in a back to back. The Mavs on the other hand still have a very slim chance of making the playoffs and are going to do everything they can to win every game from here on out. This one has blowout written all over it and there aren’t any consistent fantasy players in this game anyway.

L.A.Lakers @ Portland – 10:00 pm EDT

• Lakers picked up a big win last night and now have a half game lead for that last spot. They are in must win mode right now. Unfortunately for them, must win mode doesn’t mean playing good defense. The Lakers are still terrible defensively and I love Damian Lillard tonight. He plays around 40 minutes per night and runs the offense. I’m predicting 20 and 10 for him tonight.
• When the Lakers have to win, Kobe Bryant is always a good play. Last night he had over 20 points in the 4th quarter alone. Dwight Howard is also in play today against the Blazers who aren’t particularly good at defending big men. Last but not least is Pau Gasol, if you can get him for a cheap price he may be worth it because they are really starting to run the offense through him.

New Orleans @ Sacramento – 10:00 pm EDT

• The Hornets rankings over their last 10 even surprise me a bit. Nothing but yellow and red rankings. I can’t say that I can put any trust in their defense, but hey good for them. At this point in the season, you never know what to expect from coaches, especially the one on the Kings sideline. But DeMarcus Cousins and Tyreke Evans both have good matchups.
• The Kings have been bad against every position all season long. I think Greivis Vasquez is by far the safest play on the Hornets, but Anthony Davis and Robin Lopez could both put up some good numbers too.

San Antonio @ Denver – 10:30 pm EDT

• This could potentially be a future playoff matchup. In these types of games, Coach Pop usually likes to sit guys so that the opponent can’t get ready for them in the playoffs. I wouldn’t put it past him. Check the injury reports closely and look at the Vegas line to see what they think. For the Nuggets, I do like the SG/SF combo of Wilson Chandler, Andre Iguodala, and Corey Brewer. All 3 got a major bump in value once Gallinari went down with his injury.

Minnesota @ L.A.Clippers – 10:30 pm EDT

• Last but not least, we have the Wolves at Clippers. Could be a blowout since the Clippers are great at home and the T-Wolves are in a back to back. But the matchups are there for both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Griffin might be worth a shot even if it is a blowout because he is so cheap across the board. For the T-Wolves, I like Nikola Pekovic a little but that’s about it.