NBA Grind Down: Saturday, January 25th Page Two
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Indiana at Denver
- Vegas Line – Indiana -2.5, 202 Over/Under
- Indiana Proj. Starters – Hill-Stephenson-George-West-Hibbert
- Denver Proj. Starters – Lawson-Foye-Chandler-Faried-Hickson
Indiana
The Pacers may be playing on tired legs as they had a very late overtime game against the Kings last night. They then had to board an airplane to Denver and now have to play a back to back game in one of the toughest places to play thanks to the thin air. All that said, I really don’t think it is going to affect the Pacers much. This is a resilient team that is always up for a challenge.
- Paul George – George had a great game last night and should be able to back it up with another solid performance again tonight. The Nuggets are a fast paced team which should benefit the Pacers fantasy values.
- Lance Stephenson – Even though his numbers have been much better at home this season, I love his matchup against Foye tonight. He has a nice height and quickness advantage over Foye and the Nuggets are not great at protecting the rim. Am I crazy to predict a near triple-double for Stephenson tonight? Guess we will have to wait to find out.
Denver
The Nuggets are in a tough position tonight, but then again I said the same thing about the Kings last night and they ended up having some great success against the Pacers. That said, look for Coach Frank Vogel to stress defense right from the tipoff in this one. The Pacers own the league’s best defense and I expect them to get back to that tonight. I will be avoiding all Nuggets tonight, but if you absolutely must take one of them, Ty Lawson has been red hot lately.
Washington at Utah
- Vegas Line – No Lines Set for This Game Yet
- Washington Proj. Starters – Wall-Beal-Ariza-Hilario-Gortat
- Utah Proj. Starters – Burke-Hayward-Jefferson-Williams-Favors
Washington
The Wizards picked up a nice win in Phoenix last night and will look to make it two in a row against the Jazz tonight. This game is set at a pick ‘em game which means neither team is favored. I expect both offenses to come out and play well. Marcin Gortat makes a great cash game play, the Jazz have really struggled against bigs lately. Nene Hilario is also in play as Marvin Williams is an undersized PF.
- John Wall – Wall is expensive, but I like his matchup against the smaller Burke. The Jazz are ranked 25th against the PG position over the last 15 days and Wall will look to exploit that matchup.
Utah
The Jazz should have Derrick Favors back for tonight’s game. He went through shoot-around, but he is still listed as a game-time decision so make sure to check your injury news closer to tip-off. If Favors does end up sitting up, give a slight boost to both Enes Kanter and Jeremy Evans. The Wizards have struggled to defend two positions this season: PG’s and SF’s. I don’t love Richard Jefferson fantasy value with Hayward back though.
- Trey Burke – Burke has had back to back subpar performances, but both of those games were blowouts and he played less than 30 minutes in each. Tonight’s game should be much closer and I expect Burke to get back to his usual playing time. He has played well at home all season long and for the price, he’s one of my top plays at the PG position tonight.
Minnesota at Portland
- Vegas Line – Portland -7.5, 220 Over/Under
- Minnesota Proj. Starters – Rubio-Martin-Brewer-Love-Pekovic
- Portland Proj. Starters – Lillard-Matthews-Batum-Aldridge-Lopez
Minnesota
The last game of the night features two high powered offenses. If the Vegas total is any indication, this game should be the highest scoring game of the night by far. There are fantasy options on both teams that should be used tonight. Ricky Rubio appears to have come out of his slump, but I still see him as more of a GPP play than a cash game play. Kevin Martin makes a solid play at the SG position on sites that don’t offer position flexibility.
- Kevin Love – Love played quite well in his first matchup against Aldridge and Co. He ended up with 29 points, 15 rebounds, and 9 assists. Even though Aldridge has been great on both ends of the floor, I think Love stays with him step for step and I actually think that he ends up scoring more fantasy points than Aldridge.
- Nikola Pekovic – Pek continues his dominant stretch. He just doesn’t have any bad fantasy nights which makes his value even better. He often goes under-owned because he plays in the frontcourt with Love, but he has proven himself as a reliable 30+ FP scorer per night. I love his matchup against Lopez.
Portland
The Blazers have a very favorable matchup tonight. The Wolves have defended bigs well this season, but have struggled against PG’s, SG’s, and SF’s. There are a lot of options tonight. I think all five starters except for Robin Lopez are in play. I think Damian Lillard breaks out of his 3-game slump, Wesley Matthews should continue his hot shooting, Nicolas Batum makes a great GPP play, and LaMarcus Aldridge is putting up close to MVP type numbers.