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NBA Grind Down: Friday, April 4th - Page 3

by Ethan Haskell (Ethan) Last Updated 2014-04-04 22:06:33

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All stat chart buttons below open in an in-screen popup window and include stat tables for all games on the given page of the Grind Down Article

Oklahoma City at Houston

Oklahoma City

Here we go, time for the fun games to target tonight. OKC at Houston without Russell Westbrook or Dwight Howard. We’ll start with OKC and the absence of Westbrook which opens the door for Reggie Jackson who returned last night and had 27 FPs in 30 minutes against San Antonio. Running the point against the now Lin-led Rockets is a strong matchup and he should able to exploit that in big minutes tonight. Beyond him, you know you’re going to see fireworks from Durant and Serge should see a slight bump tonight as Perkins is doubtful to play both ends of the back to back.

Houston

No Beverley or Howard for Houston has drastically changed their rotation. Then on Wednesday they played Terrence Jones just 10 minutes after late scratching him on Tuesday. So they’ve lost two starters and have another whose been limited and for the life of me I can’t find who’s picking up the slack beyond Harden, Lin, Parsons and Asik. The rest of the Rockets seem to be playing minimal roles so for that reason you should just stick to that core fore when considering Houston tonight. Most specifically I like these two:

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Phoenix at Portland

Phoenix

For Phoenix, winning in Portland is a near necessity if they want to stay in the Western Conference playoff race. They’re only a half game back, but Dallas gets the Lakers tonight and that should be all but a lock for a W and Memphis is heavy favorites as well. Portland struggles most against opposing backcourts and both Dragic and Bledsoe have had reasonable success against them this season. The other Sun who has played well vs. Portland and is playing really well of late is Markieff Morris, who has averaged 28 FPPG in two games against and has topped 25 FP in each of his last 3.

Portland

The Blazers might be heating up again, winning 4 in a row heading into Friday night’s game. That’s due in large part to the return of Lamarcus Aldridge who had 62 fantasy points against the Lakers on Tuesday. The other notable in that one was Lillard who topped 50 FPs against the league’s worst defense. Lillard had been slumping but he’s been a relatively streaky player this year so he might be headed for a hot spell. Best of all is that Aldridge/Lillard have the best two matchups for the Blazers tonight against the Suns defense

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Sacramento at Golden State

Sacramento

The big storyline here is Ray McCallum and his absolute dominance of the NBA over the last three games. 36, 42 and 36 fantasy points from a guy who was relatively unknown until IT2 went out. Thomas is doubtful again tonight so look for McCallum to play a ton of minutes again tonight against the Warriors. It’s also interesting that GSW is missing both Bogut and Lee, leaving a huge defensive hole in the paint. Jermaine O’Neal is a decent defender but he’s not athletic enough to keep up with Cousins anymore and Bogut’s absence most directly helps Cuzzy’s production expectation tonight.

Golden State

Injuries continue to keep GSW at less than full strength but on Wednesday I got absolutely torched my Maine O’Meal. Posting a negative in 4 minutes was ROUGH but coming off a back-to-back I probably should have seen that coming. Tonight he should be rested and will be needed to somewhat slow DeMarcus Cousins. I think that pushes Speights back to a smaller role and O’Neal sees closer to 20-25 minutes. The other value to watch for here is Draymond Green, who is averaging 28 FPPG over his last two.

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Dallas at L.A.Lakers

Dallas

There’s a team that desperately needs a win facing the worst defense in the NBA tonight in LA. That’s gotta be really enticing for daily fantasy purposes but there are definitely some concerns about a blowout here when the Lakers are about as depleted as humanly possible. In two games against LA this year, it’s been the guards who have had the most success with both Jose Calderon and Monta Ellis putting up numbers above their yearly averages. I expect more of the same tonight but be wary of rolling with too many Mavs players as they use a deep bench rotation and play a lot of guys significant minutes.

L.A.Lakers

Let’s get the injuries out of the way before discussing the picks. Xavier Henry is out, Pau Gasol is out and Chris Kaman is doubtful. Steve Nash got upgraded to probable but he’s like a wounded animal on the court and every time he plays he just gets reinjured so you almost feel bad watching him try and play. The odds of Nash making it through this game are probably about 5%. Anyways, they do get to play at home and the injuries make their players intriguing because of the lack of depth. You know these guys will get minutes even if the game gets ugly and guaranteed minutes typically equals guaranteed production, especially in a D’Antoni offense.

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About the Author

Ethan
Ethan Haskell (Ethan)