NBA Grind Down: Sunday, April 5th - Page Two
Utah at Sacramento – 9:00 PM EST
- Vegas Line – Sacramento -2, 190 Over/Under
- Utah Proj. Starters – Exum-Ingles-Hayward-Favors-Gobert
- Sacramento Proj. Starters – McCallum-McLemore-Casspi-Landry-Cousins
| Utah | Sacramento | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Total | 190 |  | Vegas Total | 190 | |||||||
| Vegas Sprd | 2.0 | Vegas Sprd | -2.0 | |||||||||
| Team Proj. | 94.0 | Team Proj. | 96.0 | |||||||||
| Team Pace | 92.47 | Team Pace | 97.91 | |||||||||
| Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks and Projected Starters | Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks and Projected Starters | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proj Starter | Dante Exum | Joe Ingles | Gordon Hayward | Derrick Favors | Rudy Gobert | Proj Starter | Ray McCallum | Ben McLemore | Omri Casspi | Carl Landry | DeMarcus Cousins | |
| Opp. Season | 27 | 30 | 13 | 20 | 26 | Opp. Season | 5 | 11 | 4 | 10 | 1 | |
| Opp. Last 7 | 17 | 29 | 26 | 21 | 8 | Opp. Last 7 | 1 | 21 | 4 | 3 | 1 | |
Utah
A team that is trending in the opposite direction would be the Utah Jazz. The Jazz are 15-8 since Rudy Gobert began starting. They are going to be a much better team next year as their young players continue to grow and they want to finish the season strong. The Jazz get a major pace-up game today as the Kings are ranked 29th in the league at points allowed per game.
Elite Plays
Rodney Hood 4,200 FD/3,900 DK – I like Hood a lot as a value play tonight as he is coming off a great game back where he played 29 minutes and scored 28 fantasy points. That would exceed value by far tonight and it should happen it a great matchup.
Gordon Hayward 8,100 FD/7,800 DK – Without Rudy Gay tonight, Hayward has the opening to dominate this Kings team tonight. He has been pretty consistent at getting to the 35-point fantasy mark and the matchup with Casspi should allow Hayward to soar.
Secondary Plays
Rudy Gobert 8,900 FD/8,400 DK – Gobert’s price is a bit too high for me, especially in the matchup with DeMarcus who I can see go at the big man to get him into foul trouble. With that said, the Kings are ranked 26th in the league at defending the center position and Gobert has huge upside regardless of the matchup.
Sacramento
The Kings have one of the most dominant players in the game over the last few games and have still managed to continue to lose. The matchup against the Jazz is not a good one as the Jazz are arguably one of the best defensive teams in the league and allow the least points per game at 94.7. Rudy Gay has already been ruled out, which does open up a bit of value for us.
Elite Plays
DeMarcus Cousins 12,300 FD/10,300 DK – He is a very elite play on DK tonight, while paying the steep price on FD is tough, but his recent play warrants it. He has scored 72.5 and 77.2 fantasy points over his last two games after not playing against the Grizzlies. He looks rested and ready to finish the season strong. This is a tough matchup, but I think it is clear to say the guy is matchup proof. He is the top center on the board.
Omri Casspi 4,000 FD/4,500 DK – The matchup will be difficult, but the price makes it an easy play for me tonight. Casspi has played 35+ minutes with Gay out of the lineup and should reach that number again tonight. He needs only about 20 fantasy points to reach value and should be at least around that area.
Secondary Plays
None
L.A. Clippers at L.A. Lakers – 9:30 PM EST
- Vegas Line – L.A. Clippers -12, 209 Over/Under
- L.A. Clippers Proj. Starters – Paul-Redick-Barnes-Griffin-Jordan
- L.A. Lakers Proj. Starters – Clarkson-Lin-Johnson-Kelly-Black
| L.A. Clippers | L.A. Lakers | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Total | 209 |  | Vegas Total | 209 | |||||||
| Vegas Sprd | -12.0 | Vegas Sprd | 12.0 | |||||||||
| Team Proj. | 110.5 | Team Proj. | 98.5 | |||||||||
| Team Pace | 97.02 | Team Pace | 96.32 | |||||||||
| Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks and Projected Starters | Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks and Projected Starters | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proj Starter | Chris Paul | J.J. Redick | Matt Barnes | Blake Griffin | DeAndre Jordan | Proj Starter | Jordan Clarkson | Jeremy Lin | Wesley Johnson | Ryan Kelly | Tarik Black | |
| Opp. Season | 30 | 26 | 20 | 12 | 25 | Opp. Season | 3 | 18 | 29 | 15 | 13 | |
| Opp. Last 7 | 22 | 28 | 23 | 18 | 19 | Opp. Last 7 | 9 | 26 | 21 | 24 | 6 | |
L.A. Clippers
The last matchup tonight is the battle of LA. It is too bad that these teams are rarely good together as this game would be a lot more fun if that were the case. The Clippers are still battling for that second seed in the Western Conference, which means the starters will play as many minutes as they need to, the problem may be the fact that they may not need them for too long in this game. The Clippers are by far the biggest favorite on the board at 12-point favorites with a total of 208.
Elite Plays
None
Secondary Plays
Chris Paul, J.J. Redick, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan all have premium matchups on the board and are all playing great basketball. They all, however, come with the blowout risk tonight and should be considered great tournament plays.
L.A. Lakers
The Lakers have some decent young players getting minutes at the moment, but they have not been able to stay in many games recently unless they are playing bottom of the barrel teams. They have a difficult matchup against the Clippers tonight and we need some clarification on what big men will get to play before we can truly make recommendations there.
Elite Plays
None
Secondary Plays
Jordan Clarkson 7,700 FD/6,700 DK – He is too expensive on FD at 7,700, but I can see playing him where his salary has not risen that high. He has a tough matchup against Chris Paul, but Clarkson has played a lot of minutes while hitting the 40-fantasy point mark in each of his last three. I like Clarkson as a solid tournament play tonight.
Wesley Johnson 4,500 FD/5,000 DK – Wes is worth a mention due to his recent play and cheap price at FD. Yet, there are other value small forwards that make just as good if not better plays for a bit cheaper than Wes. He is a tournament play as well.