NBA Grind Down: Saturday, November 23rd: Page Two
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Minnesota at Houston
- Vegas Line – Houston -6, 215.5 Over/Under
- Minnesota Proj. Starters – Rubio-Martin-Brewer-Love-Pekovic
- Houston Proj. Starters – Beverley-Harden-Parsons-Jones-Howard
Minnesota
I predicted a big blowout for the Wolves last night and that’s exactly what we got. A 30 point blowout to be exact. Their starters got a lot of rest in that second half so you don’t have to worry about them in a back to back situation tonight. With so many other games that could be blowouts tonight, this is the game to target. Both of these teams are in the top 5 in scoring and I’m expecting some fireworks in this one. Vegas has the total set at 216.
- Kevin Love – Love is basically matchup proof, but you don’t have to worry about a bad matchup here because the Rockets have been awful at defending PF’s. Love is the top overall fantasy option tonight and should be treated as such. He almost had a double-double in the first quarter last night. I’m expecting a monster game and I’m going to go out on a limb and predict a 30 point, 20 rebound night from him.
- Ricky Rubio – The Rockets have an awful defense and Rubio is the motor of this offense. He should push the tempo and rack up assist after assist. He should also be able to force some turnovers from Beverley and Lin. Great upside here.
- Kevin Martin – Martin is one of the best scorers in the game, give him an inch and he’s going to knock shots down. You have to think this matchup is a favorable one for him. The Rockets have one of the worst defenses in the league.
Houston
The Rockets are in the same spot as the Wolves. They have a great matchup and you should be targeting a couple of players from both teams. While I usually don’t recommend stacking players from a single game, this one has such great potential that I think you can play 3-4 players in this game.
- James Harden – The Wolves weakest defender is probably Kevin Martin. He is undersized for a SG and Harden should be able to use his strength to get to the rim at will. Harden always carries a bit of risk with him, but the matchup looks great.
- Chandler Parsons – While Brewer is a good defender, Parsons scores his fantasy points in a lot of different ways. He’s been playing great ball of late and is in that mid-tier price range. I think he serves as a low risk option with decent upside.
Charlotte at Milwaukee
- Vegas Line – Milwaukee -2, 182 Over/Under
- Charlotte Proj. Starters – Walker-Henderson-Kidd-Gilchrist-McRoberts-Biyombo
- Milwaukee Proj. Starters – Ridnour-Mayo-Butler-Ilyasova-Pachulia
Charlotte
The Bobcats and Bucks are two very bad teams. They are both starting to get healthy though. Al Jefferson was back in the lineup last night and played pretty well. I would imagine that he would play again tonight, but this is a back to back situation so make sure to check the player news as the day progresses. With Jefferson’s minutes in question, that really only leaves one other viable fantasy option here.
- Kemba Walker – Walker can be extremely frustrating at time because he often looks like he doesn’t care on offense. He will hide in the corner and let the offense run through Gerald Henderson. Then all of the sudden, he will get aggressive and put up 10 straight points. I wish he would play with that aggressiveness all game. He has a very cheap price tag and a decent matchup tonight.
Milwaukee
The Bucks are finally starting to get healthy. They now have Luke Ridnour, Caron Butler, and Ersan Ilyasova back in their lineup. All three of them played great last night, but that’s usually what happens when you face the Sixers. They have a decent matchup tonight, but don’t expect a repeat performance out of Butler and Ilyasova.
- Luke Ridnour – Ridnour is my favorite play here thanks to his price. He’s very cheap across the board and makes a good value play against the Bobcats. He’s seeing around 30 minutes per night and hopefully he can get his offense going in this one.
Cleveland at San Antonio
- Vegas Line – San Antonio -11.5, 192 Over/Under
- Cleveland Proj. Starters – Irving-Waiters-Clark-Thompson-Varejao
- San Antonio Proj. Starters – Parker-Green-Leonard-Duncan-Splitter
Cleveland
The Cavs are near the bottom of the league in both pace of play and scoring. Their offense has really struggled this season and now they are starting their defensive specialist Delladova over one of their best offensive players Dion Waiters. The Cavs are playing in a back to back and facing a tough Spurs defense that ranks in the top 10 against every single position. They are 12 point underdogs and I do not like any Cavs players as fantasy options tonight.
San Antonio
The Spurs have one of the highest point differentials in the NBA and are facing a Cavs team that is really struggling right now. This game has blowout potential written all over it. Unless we get word that some of the Spurs players are going to sit, there just aren’t any good fantasy options in this game.
Dallas at Denver
- Vegas Line – Denver -4.5, 215 Over/Under
- Dallas Proj. Starters – Calderon-Ellis-Marion-Nowitzki-Blair
- Denver Proj. Starters – Lawson-Foye-Chandler-Faried-Hickson
Dallas
Here we go, two high scoring teams facing off in what should be a close game. These type of games are much more appealing that the games that are expected to be low scoring blowouts. The Nuggets have struggled to defend every position, but have really struggled against PF’s.
- Dirk Nowitzki – Dirk has been on fire lately. He is averaging over 35 FP’s in his last 6 games and gets a great matchup tonight against the Nuggets. Monta Ellis and Jose Calderon are also in play here, but Nowitzki has the best matchup of the three.
Denver
Vegas has this game’s total set at 214 points. There should be plenty of fantasy points scored in this one and there are plenty of favorable matchups to exploit. The Mavericks are giving up 103 points per game. Ty Lawson is obviously in play, but his price is very high so he doesn’t make my top plays here.
- J.J. Hickson – Hickson has played great since being inserted into the starting lineup. He’s averaging close to 35 FP’s over his last 4 games and is under-priced across the board. He is a mid range option with good upside.
- Wilson Chandler – Chandler put up a dud in his last game, but that can happen when Luol Deng is defending you. I’m expecting a big bounce back game from him tonight. His price has come down, but his upside is still the same.
Portland at Golden State
- Vegas Line – No Lines Set for This Game Yet
- Portland Proj. Starters – Lillard-Matthews-Batum-Aldridge-Lopez
- Golden State Proj. Starters – Curry-Thompson-Iguodala-Lee-Bogut
Portland
The Blazers won another close game last night. Now they are really going to be tested as they travel to Oakland to take on the red hot Warriors. I expected the line to be fairly close, but Vegas has the Warriors favored by 9 points in this one. Call me crazy, but I think the Blazers can keep this one within 9 points.
- Damian Lillard – Curry is questionable for tonight’s game as he is still experiencing headaches after his concussion. Curry being in the lineup actually helps Lillard’s value because Curry isn’t a great defender. Lillard has played well against Golden State in the past and is in a good spot tonight.
- LaMarcus Aldridge – Aldridge finally had a down game last night, but don’t let that affect your decision on him tonight. He’s been on fire to start the season and is much cheaper than the top studs. He has a favorable matchup against the Warriors and should bounce back nicely.
Golden State
The Warriors are an excellent team at home. Like I mentioned above, it’s not clear if Stephen Curry will play or not tonight and Andre Iguodala has already been ruled out. This means that Harrison Barnes should see home huge minutes and makes a great value play. Klay Thompson also gets a bump with Iggy out.
- David Lee – I really like Lee tonight whether Curry ends up playing or not. He’s a very safe, very consistent option at PF. He’s coming off of a great game against the Lakers and he should be able to keep it going tonight.