NBA Grind Down: Friday, December 27th - Page 2
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Denver at New Orleans
- Vegas Line – No Lines Set for This Game Yet
- Denver Proj. Starters – Lawson-Foye-Chandler-Faried-Hickson
- New Orleans Proj. Starters – Holiday-Gordon-Aminu-Anderson-Davis
Denver
This game is expected to be very close and fairly high scoring. Both of which are good for us DFS players. The Pelicans have really only defended one position well this season and that’s thanks to the awesome defense of Aminu. Wilson Chandler will be locked up with him tonight and should be avoided for that reason. The rest of the Nuggets are in play though.
Kenneth Faried has been ruled out of tonight’s game, so both J.J. Hickson and Timofey Mozgov make excellent value plays. Mozgov is probably the better play of the two considering the fact that he is much cheaper, but both are in play.
- Ty Lawson – Lawson is really the only Nuggets player that I will be using in my cash games tonight. The Pelicans have not defended PG’s well this season and he will be the one responsible for pushing the ball up the court. I think Lawson has a 20 point, 10 assist performance in him tonight.
New Orleans
The Pelicans are one of my favorite teams to target tonight. Not only do they have a solid matchup against the Nuggets, but they will likely be without Eric Gordon and possibly be without Jason Smith. With Gordon out, that would give a big boost to Tyreke Evans who has been on fire over his past 4 games. It would also give a nice bump to Jrue Holiday. I think they both make sense tonight and will likely be using one or the other in a combo with Anthony Davis.
- Anthony Davis – Davis is very much in play tonight. This will be his 4th game back since coming back from injury and he is coming off of a game in which he played 43 minutes. With Smith banged up, he could be asked to play that many minutes again tonight and he has an excellent matchup against the Nuggets who have not defended the post well this season.
L.A.Lakers at Utah
- Vegas Line – No Lines Set for This Game Yet
- L.A.Lakers Proj. Starters – Farmar-Meeks-Young-Hill-Sacre
- Utah Proj. Starters – Burke-Hayward-Jefferson-Williams-Favors
L.A.Lakers
The Lakers travel to Utah tonight to take on the Jazz. News just broke that Pau Gasol will not play tonight so that leaves the Lakers with Shawne Williams, Chris Kaman, and Jordan Hill down low. While Hill is the most talented of the bunch, D’Antoni can’t seem to ever trust him and his minutes are just way too up and down for my liking. I would use him in GPP’s, but probably avoid him for cash games. Kaman and Williams on the other hand do make sense in cash games depending on their prices, with Kaman being the better choice of the two.
I think this is a nice spot for Jordan Farmar as well. He didn’t play well in his first game back from injury, but he did play over 30 minutes which is actually more promising than his numbers. Look for him to easily cover his value here. The wing combination of Nick Young, Jodie Meeks, Wesley Johnson, and Xavier Henry also provides value, but it’s really a crapshoot as to which one of the four has the best value.
Utah
The Jazz are in a great spot tonight. They are facing one of the league’s worst defenses, they are playing at home, and they are actually favored in a game. The Lakers are ranked in the bottom 3 against every position expect for SF and I think all of the big 3 in Utah are in play here. Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, and Trey Burke are the big 3 (ok it’s not the best big 3, but still) if you were wondering.
- Trey Burke – Burke is cheap on all 3 of the major sites (FD, DK, and DS) and he’s one of my favorite value plays tonight. I think he makes sense in both cash games and GPP’s. He is facing a Lakers team that ranks in the bottom 3 against PG’s this season and should push for 30+ FP’s in this one.
Miami at Sacramento
- Vegas Line – Miami -7.5, 209 Over/Under
- Miami Proj. Starters – Chalmers-Wade-James-Battier-Bosh
- Sacramento Proj. Starters – Thomas-McLemore-Gay-Thompson-Cousins
Miami
The last time these two teams met, the Kings were very competitive in the first half and then the Heat ended up pulling away in the second half. I expect a similar scenario here, although I think the Kings will keep this one close enough that the starters will all see their usual number of minutes. It sounds like Dwyane Wade is a game-time decision for tonight’s game and if I had to guess, I would think that they would sit him out tonight and let him play in tomorrow’s game. That said, we likely won’t know by the time the first game tips off so it’s really hard to analyze this game. If we do get word that Wade it out, bump up both Lebron James and Chris Bosh.
Sacramento
The Kings are actually in a pretty decent spot tonight. I think they matchup well with the Heat and something tells me that they play well tonight. The Heat really struggle to defend talented Centers and there aren’t many more talented than DeMarcus Cousins. I don’t know if I will be paying the price for him in cash games, but I really think Cousins will play well in this one. Bosh just can’t stay with him on defense. I will continue to avoid Rudy Gay, it’s a tough matchup and he’s just too inconsistent. Isaiah Thomas is on my radar for GPP’s, but it’s worth noting that the Heat have given up the least FP’s of any team to opposing PG’s this season.
Phoenix at Golden State
- Vegas Line – Golden State -6.5, 209.5 Over/Under
- Phoenix Proj. Starters – Bledsoe-Dragic-Tucker-Frye-Plumlee
- Golden State Proj. Starters – Curry-Thompson-Iguodala-Lee-Bogut
Phoenix
The last game of the night features two uptempo teams. Both the Suns and Warriors are expected to score over 100 points each in this game and as long as this game stays close, there are good fantasy options from both teams. The Warriors have actually been very solid defensively this season as they rank in the top 11 against every position except for PG. I wouldn’t rule out Eric Bledsoe though as he plays a combo guard of both PG and SG.
- Eric Bledsoe – Bledsoe has put up over 37 FP’s in 3 of his last 5 games and has a good chance of hitting that mark again tonight. Bledsoe has a high ceiling and will need a monster game for the Suns to get a win here.
- Goran Dragic – The Warriors are currently ranked 25th against PG’s this season. While Curry is a terrific player offensively, his defense is more than lacking. That’s good news for Dragic. I think he should be able to top 30 FP’s here.
Golden State
The Warriors are in a favorable position tonight. They are projected as one of the highest scoring teams tonight and the Pelicans have been very average defensively. I think all five starters are in play here. Stephen Curry is the top overall PG option, Klay Thompson is coming off of a big game, Andre Iguodala is cheap across the board, David Lee should continue to post monster double-doubles, and Andrew Bogut should top 30 FP’s again. Don’t be afraid to use 1-2 Warriors tonight.