NBA Grind Down: Sun, Nov 3
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 NFL Scoring System, check out the scoring systems section of our FanDuel Review
Boston at Detroit
| Boston | Detroit | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Pts | 189.0 |  | Vegas | 189.0 | |||||||
| Spread | -2.0 | Spread | 7.5 | |||||||||
| Pace | 93.98 | Pace | 93.21 | |||||||||
| Opponent Defense vs. Position | Opponent Defense vs. Position | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 16 | 21 | 20 | 14 | 25 | Season | 8 | 5 | 17 | 19 | 15 | |
| Last10 | 15 | 4 | 15 | 27 | 7 | Last10 | 21 | 2 | 11 | 17 | 6 | |
| Bradley-Green-Wallace-Bass-Faverani | Billups-Bynum-Smith-Monroe-Drummond | |||||||||||
Boston
The Celtics have been much more competitive than people thought heading into the season. Avery Bradley, Jeff Green, and Vitor Faverani have all looked good. They face a Pistons team that has picked up their pace quite a bit this season. I don’t like either of the Celtics bigs against Drummond and Monroe and Jeff Green will be in a tough matchup against Josh Smith. While the C’s are only underdogs by 3 points, I really see this one as a big Pistons win.
Players to Target
- Avery Bradley – Bradley is still cheap across the board, but he hasn’t had a big fantasy game thus far. The positive note is that he has topped 30 minutes in both games and should be looking to score more this season. He’s attempted 13 and 14 shots in the first two games. I think he makes a nice value play and is really the only Celtics option that I am looking at, even on a short schedule day.
Detroit
The Pistons have played well and have really gelled quickly. They are still without their starting PG Brandon Jennings, but the frontcourt of Smith, Drummond, and Monroe looks like they will be dominant for years to come. Coach Mo Cheeks said that he isn’t sure who he is starting in the backcourt tonight so look for an update later to tipoff. If Will Bynum is the starting PG, continue to play him as an excellent value play.
Players to Target
- Andre Drummond – Drummond is going to have a huge size advantage over the 6’11” Faverani. While Faverani plays very physical, I think Drummond should dominant him down low and pick up a few blocks on the defensive end. Drummond is coming off of a big game against Marc Gasol and the Grizzlies who have one of the toughest defenses in the league. Pay up for Drummond today.
Washington at Miami
| Washington | Miami | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Pts | 197.5 |  | Vegas | 197.5 | |||||||
| Spread | -9.5 | Spread | -3.5 | |||||||||
| Pace | 94.41 | Pace | 92.97 | |||||||||
| Opponent Defense vs. Position | Opponent Defense vs. Position | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 1 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 7 | Season | 14 | 11 | 11 | 15 | 10 | |
| Last10 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 6 | 22 | Last10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 26 | 9 | |
| Wall-Beal-Ariza-Booker-Hilario | Chalmers-Wade-James-Battier-Bosh | |||||||||||
Washington
This seems like it could be a bad game for the Wizards. Not only do they face the Heat in Miami, but the Heat have lost back to back games for the first time in a very long time. They are going to come out fired up and really look to dominate the Wizards on the defensive side of the ball. The Wizards are a very young team that is likely to struggle more on the road than they do at home. For my money, the Wizards are an easy fade tonight.
Miami
Look for the Heat to come out sharp in this one on both ends of the floor. After back to back losses to both the Sixers and Nets, they will be fired up for this one. The Wizards aren’t a great defensive team ranking in the middle of the pack against every position. Look for Lebron James and Dwyane Wade to get involved early and then get their role players more involved. This game has the feeling of a blowout so make sure to keep that in mind when making your lineups.
Players to Target
- Lebron James – Lebron has yet to have a big fantasy game but it’s only a matter of time before he breaks out and tops 50 fantasy points. While Ariza is a fairly good defender thanks to his length, Lebron is too quick and too powerful for Ariza to stay in front of him. Lebron averaged 24, 8, and 8 against the Wizards last season in fairly limited minutes. He should top that production tonight and hopefully add a few blocks and steals.
Brooklyn at Orlando
| Brooklyn | Orlando | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Pts | 193.5 |  | Vegas | 193.5 | |||||||
| Spread | 3.5 | Spread | 4.0 | |||||||||
| Pace | 91.23 | Pace | 94.48 | |||||||||
| Opponent Defense vs. Position | Opponent Defense vs. Position | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 27 | 16 | 25 | 12 | 27 | Season | 12 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 13 | |
| Last10 | 28 | 11 | 28 | 22 | 18 | Last10 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 19 | |
| Williams-Johnson-Pierce-Garnett-Lopez | Nelson-Afflalo-Harkless-Nicholson-Vucevic | |||||||||||
Brooklyn
The Nets are a fantasy nightmare. They have 5 starters that all contribute and that all can take over a game. Predicting each player’s fantasy performance night to night is going to be anyone’s guess, but I do like the matchup as a whole for the Nets. Deron Williams should have his minutes restriction lifted tonight and the Magic have been awful on defense this season ranking in the bottom five against PG’s, SF’s, and C’s.
Players to Target
- Deron Williams – While it’s going to be tough to predict scoring on a nightly basis, D-Will’s stats should be fairly consistent. He has plenty of weapons to work with and should soon be at the top of the league in assists. I love his matchup against Jameer who is much more focused on his role offensively. If there is one Nets player to target tonight, Williams is your guy.
Orlando
The Magic have a very tough matchup in front of them. The Nets were one of the best defensive teams in the league last season and now have Kevin Garnett to anchor that defense. I expect the Nets to be a top five defense this season and looking at their rankings early on they are in the top 10 against SG’s, SF’s, and PF’s. I’m very tempted to stay away from the Magic entirely, but there is one player that I think is underpriced.
Players to Target
- Maurice Harkless – I was high on Harkless coming into the season after he ended last year with some very impressive numbers for how young he is. He didn’t get off to the fast start that I was hoping for, but put up 20 points and 8 rebounds in his last game. He is very underpriced across the board and should see 30+ minutes, especially considering the fact that he is one of their better defenders.
Phoenix at Oklahoma City
| Phoenix | Oklahoma City | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Pts | 196.0 |  | Vegas | 196.0 | |||||||
| Spread | -3.0 | Spread | 2.0 | |||||||||
| Pace | 95.95 | Pace | 95.89 | |||||||||
| Opponent Defense vs. Position | Opponent Defense vs. Position | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 5 | 19 | 9 | 7 | 9 | Season | 17 | 12 | 14 | 29 | 28 | |
| Last10 | 8 | 28 | 3 | 8 | 13 | Last10 | 29 | 20 | 8 | 18 | 29 | |
| Dragic-Bledsoe-Tucker-Plumlee-Frye | Jackson-Sefolosha-Durant-Ibaka-Perkins | |||||||||||
Phoenix
The Suns have turned into a very uptempo offense with Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe in the backcourt. They are a very young, very exciting team to watch that is going to have mixed results, especially when they are on the road. They have a tough matchup against the Thunder tonight and are 12 point underdogs. While I typically like to avoid teams in this situation, I like this game to be high scoring and there really aren’t a lot of options with only 6 games on the schedule.
Players to Target
- Eric Bledsoe – Bledsoe is a spark plug on both ends of the court. He can do a little bit of everything and has really played nicely off of Dragic. If the Suns are going to stay in this game, it will be from his ability to make plays.
- Miles Plumlee – Plumlee doesn’t have the best matchup on paper, but he really looked good against Enes Kanter the other night who has similar defense as Kendrick Perkins. The Plumlee hype is real and if his price hasn’t risen on the sites that you are playing on, then get him in your lineups. He is going to get all the minutes he can handle.
Oklahoma City
The Thunder have been a 1-man show thus far. Reggie Jackson hasn’t played as well as many of us hoped that he would, but he is still a very good PG that will pick up his game here shortly. I don’t like taking top salary players like Durant when they are huge favorites. Nothing is worse than having your most expensive player sit out the whole 4th quarter because they are ahead by so much. There are a couple of nice plays on OKC though.
Players to Target
- Serge Ibaka – Ibaka is off to a horrid start. He has only shot 25% from the field and has yet to reach double digits in scoring. But production in the NBA is going to vary from night to night and Ibaka is still a borderline all-star. He has his best matchup to date and I expect for him to easily cover his value as his price has started to come down.
- Reggie Jackson – Jackson is one of many Thunder players that is off to a slow start. But he is still the starting PG on a very good offensive team and he is going to see 30+ minutes each night. The Suns have been below average at defending PG’s and this should easily be Jackson’s best game to date.
Minnesota at New York
| Minnesota | New York | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Pts | 202.0 |  | Vegas | 202.0 | |||||||
| Spread | -2.0 | Spread | ||||||||||
| Pace | 95.22 | Pace | 92.03 | |||||||||
| Opponent Defense vs. Position | Opponent Defense vs. Position | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | Season | 26 | 23 | 5 | 24 | 5 | |
| Last10 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 2 | 17 | Last10 | 25 | 21 | 2 | 20 | 11 | |
| Rubio-Martin-Brewer-Love-Pekovic | Felton-Shumpert-Anthony-Bargnani-Chandler | |||||||||||
Minnesota
K-Love and the T-Wolves head to the big apple to take on the Knicks in MSG. Vegas has the Knicks favored by 3 in this game so this will be one of the few games that I am really targeting tonight. The Knicks are a solid defensive team, but I would rather take players in a close game than in blowout situations.
Players to Target
- Kevin Love – Love has been extremely efficient to start the season. He’s topped 45 fantasy points in each of his first 2 games. He’s going to be the fantasy beast that we knew from two seasons ago and I have him as my top fantasy option tonight. He is going to be matchup up with Andrea Bargnani and Kenyon Martin and I like his matchup in both instances.
- Ricky Rubio – Rubio can really fill up the stat sheet. He’s not going to have many 20-point nights, but he will have a lot of 13, 8, 7, and 3 steal nights. He picks up fantasy points in a lot of different ways and faces a very average defender in Raymond Felton.
New York
The Knicks have an interesting matchup against the Wolves. I’m staying away from the Knicks bigs tonight because the T-Wolves big men are both very good, physical defenders that don’t let many rebounds slip through their fingers. Raymond Felton is still banged up so I’m not taking a chance on him either.
- Carmelo Anthony – Melo has started the season slow, but I like the matchup for him tonight. I really don’t see anyone else doing a lot of scoring tonight and when the Knicks are in a close game, Melo likes to take over.
- Iman Shumpert – I love the price for Shumpert and I like his upside. He is going to see 30+ minutes as long as J.R. Smith is out and he can put up points in a hurry.
Players to Target