NBA Grind Down: Saturday, March 8th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2014-03-08 20:23:26

Welcome to the RotoGrinders NBA Grind Down Article. Each day, we’ll break down all of the matchups with a focus on defense vs. position stats. The Grind Down shows you Vegas lines, defense stats and projected starting lineups for each and every game.

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. Use this article to help you gain a better understanding of the matchups for the coming week and build from there. We have everything you could possibly need on our Daily Research console for you to be a successful daily fantasy player!

Note: Any Fantasy Point Average Listed Uses FanDuel Scoring. For more info on FanDuel’s NBA Scoring System, check out the scoring systems section of our FanDuel Review

Click ‘Stat Chart’ Buttons Below for Pop-Ups of Essential Game-Specific Statistics including Defense vs. Position and Pace

New York at Cleveland

Vegas Line – Cleveland -1, 200 Over/Under
New York Proj. Starters – Felton-Smith-Anthony-Stoudemire-Chandler
Cleveland Proj. Starters – Irving-Waiters-Deng-Thompson-Hawes

New York

Tonight’s schedule features 6 games, the first of which is the Knicks and the Cavs. The Knicks are coming off of a blowout win against the Jazz last night and face a Cavs team that lost to the Bobcats last night. The Cavaliers have not been great defensively this season. They are giving up 101.5 points per game and are ranked 18th or worse in terms of fantasy points allowed to PG’s, SG’s, and SF’s.

Even though the Cavs have defended big well this season, I don’t hate the matchup for either Amar’e Stoudemire or Tyson Chandler. Amar’e only played 19 minutes last night so he should be well rested for tonight’s game. He had topped 20 FP’s in each of his previous 3 games and continues to make a nice punt play at the PF position. Chandler is also in play here, while he doesn’t have a great offensive game, he has recorded at least 11 rebounds in 10 straight games.

Carmelo Anthony – Melo will be defended by Luol Deng tonight, but he has not been the same defender since being traded to the Cavs. On the season, the Cavs have surrendered the 3rd most FP’s to SF’s this season and Melo has scored at least 28 actual points in 3 straight games.

Raymond Felton – Felton has a terrific matchup tonight against Kyrie and the Cavs who have surrendered the 3rd most FP’s to PG’s this season. PG’s have had huge games against this team all season long and Felton is a mid to low range PG on most sites.

Cleveland

The Cavs have a decent matchup tonight against the Knicks, but it really depends on which Knicks team shows up. It seems like the Knicks either crack down on the defensive end or decide to get into a track meet. On the season, the Knicks are holding their opponents to 100.2 points per game which is ranked in the top half of the league.

Looking at the DvP rankings, the Knicks have recently struggled to defend the PG and Center position and have really struggled to defend the SG position all season long. Spencer Hawes has a tough matchup against Chandler and there are better options in his price range. Dion Waiters makes a nice contrarian play off the bench. He has looked good since coming back from his injury.

Kyrie Irving – Felton has never been known as a shut down defender and the Knicks are ranked 23rd against PG’s over the last two weeks. Irving has been one of the best home split players in the NBA this season as he is averaging over 37 FP’s per game there. Kyrie makes a great play tonight.

Utah at Philadelphia

Vegas Line – Utah -6.5, 207 Over/Under
Utah Proj. Starters – Burke-Hayward-Jefferson-Williams-Favors
Philadelphia Proj. Starters – Carter-Williams-Anderson-Thompson-Young-Sims

Utah

It’s very rare that the Jazz are favorites when they are on the road, but that’s what happens when you are facing the Sixers. The Sixers own the league’s worst defense and are ranked 29th or 30th against all five positions in terms of fantasy points allowed. I’m not sure I’ve said this once this season, but all five starters from the Jazz are in play. Don’t be shy with your Jazz exposure tonight.

Gordon Hayward – Hayward is finally starting to show some consistency. He has scored at least 26 FP’s in each of his last 6 games and should have another solid all-around game tonight. The Sixers do not defend well or rebound well so the upside is certainly there for Hayward.

Derrick Favors – It’s a bit frustrating that Favors rarely sees more than 30 minutes, but Kanter has been playing well and Corbin likes to distribute the bigs minutes to 4 players. Favors has an excellent matchup tonight against the Sixers and his price is depressed across the board thanks to his recent subpar play.

Philadelphia

This isn’t a great matchup for the Sixers. Even though the Jazz have a very average defense, the Jazz are one of the slowest paced teams in the league and if the averages hold out, the Sixers will see at least a few less possessions than their season average. The two positions that you want to target here are the PG and Center positions, however, I don’t trust either Sims or Mullens.

Michael Carter-Williams – This will be a battle of two of the best rookie PG’s. MCW leads rookies in basically every stat this season and is basically the #1 or #2 option offensively on his team. MCW posted a 19/8/5 stat line against Burke earlier in the season and should play well here.

Charlotte at Memphis

Vegas Line – Memphis -8.5, 186 Over/Under
Charlotte Proj. Starters – Walker-Douglas-Roberts-Kidd-Gilchrist-McRoberts-Jefferson
Memphis Proj. Starters – Conley-Lee-Prince-Randolph-Gasol

Charlotte

The Bobcats draw a very tough matchup against the Grizzlies. Even thought the Grizzlies have given up over 100 points in 4 of their last 6 games, they are still one of the best defenses in the league. The total for this game is set at only 186 points and the Bobcats are in danger of being blown out as they are close to double-digit underdogs tonight. Call me crazy, but I just don’t like targeting players against a team that is ranked 14th or better against all five positions on the floor this season.

Memphis

The Grizzlies are coming off of a nice win in Chicago last night and face a Bobcats team that plays a similar style of basketball. The Bobcats are one of the top 10 defenses this season and play at a below average pace. While I’m not crazy about any of the Grizzlies tonight, I do think Marc Gasol is in play. Al Jefferson has never been a great defender and Marc can fill up all areas of the stat sheet.

Washington at Milwaukee

Vegas Line – Washington -7.5, 205 Over/Under
Washington Proj. Starters – Wall-Beal-Ariza-Booker-Gortat
Milwaukee Proj. Starters – Knight-Wolters-Middleton-Ilyasova-Pachulia

Washington

The Wizards have a terrific matchup against the Bucks tonight. This total is very high for a Wizards game and the Bucks have really struggled defensively this season. The Bucks are ranked 9th against the PG position, but are ranked 17th or worse against the other 4 positions on the floor. With Wall being on the road and in a tough matchup, I will be avoiding him tonight, but the other 4 starters are all in play.

Marcin Gortat – The Bucks are one of the worst rebounding teams in the league and have been one of the worst teams at defending the paint. That is a very nice combination for Gortat tonight. He has really played well since Nene went down with his injury and he should make a very safe play tonight with nice upside to go with it.

Bradley Beal – Beal has scored at least 25 FP’s in 6 straight games and should be able to top that mark again tonight. I really like his matchup against the much smaller Wolters. Consider Beal a lock for 25+ tonight.

Milwaukee

The Bucks face a Wizards team that has really picked up their play on the defensive end of the floor. Over the last 15 days, they are ranked 14th or better against all five positions on the floor in terms of fantasy points allowed. With Ersan Ilyasova expected back in the lineup, I’m not too high on everyone’s favorite value plays yesterday (Jeff Adrien and John Henson). Of the two, I think Adrien is the better play at this point. If O.J. Mayo gets suspended, give a small fantasy boost to the Alphabet and Nate Wolters.

Orlando at San Antonio

Vegas Line – San Antonio -16, 203.5 Over/Under
Orlando Proj. Starters – Nelson-Oladipo-Afflalo-Harris-Vucevic
San Antonio Proj. Starters – Parker-Green-Leonard-Duncan-Splitter

Orlando

The line on this game should scare you away. The Magic have been one of the worst road teams this season and we’ve seen the impact that potential blowouts have on fantasy output, especially for the underdogs. The only thing that would change my mind here is if Coach Pop decides to sit some of his starters. One injury note that we do need to note: Victor Oladipo will not play tonight. This doesn’t really make a huge fantasy impact though.

San Antonio

The Spurs are a tough team to target even when they are small favorites. Tonight they are 16.5 point favorites. While it’s a solid matchup, I don’t see the starters playing more than 30 minutes here. If you are going to target anyone from this game, target the scrubs. The stud players just won’t see enough minutes.

Atlanta at L.A.Clippers

Vegas Line – L.A.Clippers -15, 220 Over/Under
Atlanta Proj. Starters – Teague-Korver-Carroll-Scott-Brand
L.A.Clippers Proj. Starters – Paul-Collison-Barnes-Griffin-Jordan

Atlanta

From one high line to the next. The Hawks are 15 point underdogs tonight against the Clippers after getting blown out by the Warriors last night. While this is expected to be a fast-paced, high scoring game, I’m just not sure how many minutes the starters will see if this game goes as expected, especially considering the fact that the Hawks are on the back end of a back to back.

L.A.Clippers

The Clippers are huge favorites tonight, but unlike the Spurs, I think there are a couple of solid plays here. The Hawks have been awful defensively over the past two weeks and will have a tough time stopping this Clippers offense that has been steamrolling its opponents.

Darren Collison – I’m not sure that I will be paying up for either Chris Paul or Blake Griffin tonight, but I really like Collison. He has averaged over 30 FP’s per game as the starting SG and should continue to play well tonight. His price is still very affordable on most sites.

DeAndre Jordan – Jordan has recorded a double-double in 5 of his last 6 games and has a great chance to make it 6 out of 7 tonight. The Hawks have not defended the Center position well and Jordan has a huge length advantage over Elton Brand.