NBA Grind Down: Sunday, April 13th
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
Oklahoma City at Indiana
- Vegas Line – No Lines Set for This Game Yet
- Oklahoma City Proj. Starters – Westbrook-Jackson-Durant-Ibaka-Perkins
- Indiana Proj. Starters – Hill-Stephenson-George-West-Hibbert
Oklahoma City
This one should be interesting. Oklahoma City heads into Indy averaging 110 points per game over their last 10 contests, good for 2nd in the NBA. The Pacers are allowing just 94.3 in that time, good for third best in the NBA. Something has to give here but the biggest question mark just might be whether both teams will be going all-out in this one. Westbrook will sit in either this one or the game tomorrow vs. New Orleans and my best guess is he plays against a better Pacers team, but I’d be hard pressed to recommend anyone in this game with the playing time concerns and tough matchup.
Indiana
The Pacers really dropped a dud in Miami on Friday. The team that showed up in that game is nowhere near ready to compete for the Eastern Conference crown, and now they get to take on a potential suitor if they somehow were able to advance through the East. Indiana is dead last in the NBA in scoring over the last 10 games, so targeting anyone on their dysfunctional offense seems like a grasp at straws.
Toronto at Detroit
- Vegas Line – TOR (-6.5), 206 Over/Under
- Toronto Proj. Starters – Lowry-Derozan-Ross-Johnson-Valanciunas
- Detroit Proj. Starters – Jennings-Stuckey-Singler-Monroe-Drummond
Toronto
Toronto has gotten healthy before the final couple of games of the regular season which means the value that was available from the Raptors earlier this week can no longer be had. Lowry has returned though and has scored 54 points in two games. Detroit is allowing the most assists per game over the last 10, at 26.6 per contest, leaving Lowry in a great spot to stack the stat sheet. Detroit struggles pretty much across the board though defensively, so there could be a few Raptors putting together big days.
- Kyle Lowry – Detroit’s struggles against PGs are well documented and Lowry doesn’t appeared to be hampered since coming back to the court.
- Jonas Valanciunas – I really thought Amir’s return on Friday would kill Jonas V’s value but he shut me up quick with a 45 FP effort against NY. He’s red hot right now and still reasonably priced in most places.
Detroit
The Pistons continue to boggle everyone’s mind by showing up in games against really good teams then getting slaughtered by the NBA’s worst. On Friday they made a game of it with the Bulls and Andre Drummond was outstanding, picking up 19 rebounds in the first half. The DvP matchup for Drummond looks equally challenging tonight but I’d still argue he makes a tremendous GPP play against the less athletic Jonas V. Also worth noting, Detroit should be without Josh Smith and Will Bynum again on Sunday leaving Kyle Singler, Rodney Stuckey and the rest of the Pistons to pick up some slack.
Chicago at New York
- Vegas Line – No Lines Set for This Game Yet
- Chicago Proj. Starters – Hinrich-Butler-Dunleavy-Boozer-Noah
- New York Proj. Starters – Felton-Smith-Anthony-Stoudemire-Chandler
Chicago
Neither team in this one has much to play for, with the Knicks being eliminated and the Bulls being pretty locked into their playoff seeding. Neither team has any reported injuries while I’m writing this so you can expect pretty standard rotations. This game should be low scoring and slow-paced, i.e not a terrific environment for daily fantasy. With that said, the biggest hole in the Knicks defense all season has been against the SG position and if you want to target anyone, Jimmy Butler is the guy to look for. Though he’s been pretty boring, fantasy-wise, over the last 10.
New York
The Knicks were eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday with the Hawks W so I’m half expecting full out anarchy on the home court on Sunday. I’m thinking JR puts up about 30 shots, punches Melo in the face and Tyson Chandler tries to fight all of them. Then the fans riot. Realistically, this team has been looking for a reason to cave all year and this is it. With their season over, I’m struggling to find a reason to recommend too many guys here. The one thing I will say is that you might see a couple of guys sit with the season over.
Orlando at Brooklyn
- Vegas Line – No Lines Set for This Game Yet
- Orlando Proj. Starters – Nelson-Afflalo-Harkless-Harris-O’Quinn
- Brooklyn Proj. Starters – Williams-Livingston-Johnson-Pierce-Garnett
Orlando
The Magic have caught a huge break with the Celtics winning back to back games in the final stretch run, meaning Orlando can easily lock up a top-4 spot in the lottery by continuing to lose. In Brooklyn on Sunday, even against a banged up team, you can probably expect them to lose again. There have been a few bright spots for the Magic though, as Jameer Nelson has come around over the last 2 games and had a nice 12, 11 and 7 performance against the Wizards on Friday night. Brooklyn has some holes defensively when they’re not at full strength and Orlando has some cheap value plays to offer.
- Jameer Nelson – His minutes won’t top the 34ish range but he’s been productive in that time over the last two and has a great price point on most sites.
- Kyle O’Quinn – O’Quinn continued to top 30 FPs with Vuc out, and Nikola is doubtful again on Sunday. If his price is still low on your preferred site, target at will.
Brooklyn
The Nets should be a little light again on Sunday but be sure to follow the news here closely as Jason Kidd is willing to rest any and everyone on any given night. Right now, it looks like both Shaun Livingston and Alan Anderson are doubtful to play with Deron Williams being probable. The Magic are poor defensively so the guys who do suit up should be able to exploit Orlando’s D.
- Marcus Thornton – With Anderson and Livingston doubtful, big minutes open up for Thornton who has been extremely boom or bust. He’s dirt cheap in most places and makes for a tremendous punt GPP type play tonight.
Golden State at Portland
- Vegas Line – No Lines Set for This Game Yet
- Golden State Proj. Starters – Curry-Thompson-Iguodala-Lee-Bogut
- Portland Proj. Starters – Lillard-Matthews-Batum-Aldridge-Lopez
Golden State
Finally we come to a game with some legitimate fantasy intrigue. The Warriors got David Lee back on Friday and are fully healthy for the first time in awhile, with the only potential question mark being Andre Iguodala who is probable. Lee should still be limited though which means timeshares for all of the Golden State bigs, and takes away a lot of the interest there. The focus should be on the backcourt for targeting GS tonight, as Portland’s backcourt defense has been far and away their biggest weakness.
- Stephen Curry – Curry had a huge night against the Lakers on Friday and gets another juicy matchup with Portland tonight, who ranks 26th in the NBA against PGs over the last 15 days.
Portland
There are a couple of good matchups for the Blazers in this one, with Golden State ranking in the bottom 10 in the NBA against both the PF and Center position over the last 15 days. That of course was the Lee/Bogut-less Warriors for the most part but Lee’s return in particular doesn’t make them too much more terrifying defensively. I’d expect Bogut to cover Aldridge for the most part in this one with Lee shading towards Brook Lopez, so the juicy matchup on paper for LA might not be as good as it seems.
- LaMarcus Aldridge – Being covered by Bogut will be a small hiccup for LA, but he’s still fared well against the Warriors this season. In 3 games he’s averaged 49 fantasy points per game including a massive 16 rebounds.