NBA Grind Down: Sunday, April 6th
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 Miami
- Vegas Line – Miami -7, 187 Over/Under
- New York Proj. Starters – Felton-Smith-Anthony-Stoudemire-Chandler
- Miami Proj. Starters – Chalmers-Douglas-James-Haslem-Bosh
New York
This is a game that seems so much more appealing than it actually is, with two teams stockpiled with talent facing off in South Beach. For the Knicks, it’s a fight for playoff hope down the stretch and they are absolutely desperate for a win in Miami on Sunday. They’re pretty much healthy, outside of the injuries to KMart and Bargnani, so we should see their rotation look fairly similar to how it has over the last few games. Woodson has been relying heavily on J.R. Smith who’s played 40+ minutes in 3 of the last 4 games. The two starting bigs are seeing around 30 minutes with Melo and Felton splitting the difference around 35-38 minutes per game.
- J.R. Smith – Smith has been red hot over his last two games and he’s one of the streakiest players in the NBA. His price hasn’t quite risen to meet his recent production on most sites and you should hop on his value while you can.
- Tyson Chandler – Chandler has outproduced his season averages in all three games against the Heat this season and they’ve shown their fair share of struggles against Centers all year long. Chandler’s a gamer and you know he’ll be a force on the glass today, making him a strong middle tier play.
Miami
For Miami, it starts with the continuing absence of Dwyane Wade from the lineup. Miami has gone 4-1 in the 5 games Wade has missed but it’s been a conveniently light schedule with 2 games vs. MIL along with contests vs. the Wolves, Pistons and one impressive W against the Raptors. Beating a hungry Knicks team with Wade doubtful could be a challenge, and the scoring needs to be picked up somewhere. In those 5 games Wade has missed, LeBron has 2 games with 30+ points and 3 under 20. My best guess is we see the better LeBron on National TV today, but he’s still proven to be an extremely risky daily fantasy play of late.
- LeBron James – Like I mentioned above, LBJ is pretty risky right now but he still makes for a decent GPP option today, especially if LeBron sits. He’s still LeBron, so the ceiling is always there.
- Mario Chalmers – Chalmers has quietly been playing a slew of minutes over the last 5 games and his fantasy production has been solid. He’s at a great price on most sites and makes for an intriguing value option on Sunday.
L.A.Lakers at L.A.Clippers
- Vegas Line – L.A.Clippers -16, 226 Over/Under
- L.A.Lakers Proj. Starters – Marshall-Meeks-Bazemore-Hill-Sacre
- L.A.Clippers Proj. Starters – Paul-Collison-Dudley-Barnes-Jordan
L.A.Lakers
The NBA is a real sucker for shoving the Lakers onto nationally televised embarrassments huh? It almost feels mean to put them out with the Clippers again when the last time these two met, LAC handed the cross-town rival their worst loss in franchise history. Well these Lakers are different…said no one. In fact, they’re probably worse with Pau, Xavier and Nash out (Kaman is questionable as well). They’re super banged up and this game will be fast tempo and likely a blowout. But given how many minutes D’Antoni has been playing a number of the Lakers wing guys, you can safely target them regardless of score.
- Kent Bazemore – Bazemore is coming off a disappointing sub-20 fantasy point effort but don’t abandon ship just yet. As I mentioned on Friday, he can play 4 positions for the Lakers and that means he’s a lock to get big minutes in any game.
- Wesley Johnson – Wes has back-to-back 30 FP efforts and seems to have found his rhythm again after a couple weeks of falling off the map. He’s significantly cheaper than Bazemore on most sites and might be a better dollar for dollar option.
- Jordan Hill – Hill just impresses whenever he can get enough minutes (aka stay out of foul trouble). It’ll be tough to do that vs. the Clips but he still makes for a nice GPP upside pick today.
L.A.Clippers
The Clippers are definitely licking their chops at the thought of handing the Lakers another big loss this season. Don’t get it twisted, the Clips know they were the laughingstock of LA for years and they won’t miss this golden opportunity to bask in the glow of being #1. Unfortunately for daily fantasy, they’re getting healthier and after a few weeks of playing increased roles, some of their mid-tier guys have inflated price tags. You know what you’re getting in this matchup, just be wary of paying too much for a guy just because he’s facing the Lakers.
- Blake Griffin – Most notably, he’s just $8800 on DraftKings today. It’s really hard to pass up on that when he’s coming off a 62 FP game against Dallas. The biggest concern is a blowout here but even in that event he should still get 30ish minutes against one of the softest frontcourts in basketball.
- Darren Collison – Collison still saw 38 minutes last game despite the return of Redick and if he’s priced at a mid-range level on the site you’re playing today he’s worth a look for cash games as he’s been impressively efficient.
Dallas at Sacramento
- Vegas Line – No Lines Set for This Game Yet
- Dallas Proj. Starters – Calderon-Ellis-Marion-Nowitzki-Dalembert
- Sacramento Proj. Starters – McCallum-McLemore-Gay-Evans-Cousins
Dallas
Dallas continues to be desperate for wins so I’d be shocked if they didn’t take care of a banged up Kings team despite having to go on the road to do it. Dirk was superb on Friday night and now has 61, 49 and 45 fantasy points over his last three games. He’s turned it way up for the stretch run and can definitely be relied on against this sloppy Kings defense. Beyond that, the Kings continue to rank towards the bottom of the league against SGs with Ben McLemore being one of the league’s worst defenders this season.
- Dirk Nowitzki – I mentioned it above but Dirk has really turned it on of late and his price is still reasonable in a number of spots. For $8400 on DK, he’s reached value or approximate value in each of his last three games.
- Monta Ellis – Monta gets the juiciest SG matchup possible today, with the Kings ranking dead last vs. them on the season. Unfortunately his ceiling has been in the 40 FP range and his price tag is a little too high for me to trust him in any tournaments today. I don’t hate it in a cash game, but the upside just isn’t there.
Sacramento
A couple of key injuries highlight the breakdown for the Kings, with Rudy Gay being questionable and Isaiah Thomas being doubtful for Sunday’‘s game. Thomas is easy to find replacement value for, although the word value is likely the wrong choice since his price point has skyrocketed. For Gay, it would likely mean big minutes for Derrick Williams who has been a fantasy stud when given enough minutes in the rotation. Gay’s potential absence would also open up some shots for Cousins, and Dallas doesn’t really have the bodies inside to slow him down to begin with.
- Ray McCallum – Don’t overpay for McCallum, but he hasn’t been bumped up too much on your site he’s worth owning today.
- DeMarcus Cousins – Cuzzy is one of my favorite studs at home against this Mavs defense today, but he gets an even bigger boost if Gay sits. The Mavs are 17th against Centers over the last 15 days.
- Derrick Williams – He had 19 fantasy points in 23 minutes on Friday and if Gay sits, plug him into your lineups on Sunday.
Atlanta at Indiana
- Vegas Line – Indiana -8, 187.5 Over/Under
- Atlanta Proj. Starters – Teague-Korver-Carroll-Millsap-Antic
- Indiana Proj. Starters – Hill-Stephenson-George-West-Hibbert
Atlanta
Atlanta gets the fun task of playing the Pacers defense on Sunday and for that reason I’ll be avoiding all of their players. This game should be low scoring and the Hawks match up poorly with Indiana. Keep it simple and don’t try and get fancy vs. Indy’s D.
Indiana
The Pacers dropped their 4th game in their last 5 on Friday and continue to slide heading into the playoffs. Their issues haven’t been on the defensive end, as they are still holding opponents to minimal scoring but their offense has been the worst in the NBA over the last month or so. None of their options have been remotely reliable of late and it’s really hard to justify using them even with a good matchup against Atlanta. With that said, the Hawks are dead last against Point Guards over the last 15 days and with C.J. Watson out George Hill is in a good spot playing a ton of minutes.
Denver at Houston
- Vegas Line – Houston -11.5, 221 Over/Under
- Denver Proj. Starters – Lawson-Foye-Miller-Faried-Mozgov
- Houston Proj. Starters – Lin-Harden-Parsons-Jones-Asik
Denver
For a team that plays so uptempo, it’s certainly hard to find fantasy value within them. Don’t get me wrong, they always seem to have someone whose putting up huge stats in a given game, but predicting that somebody is a challenge. For the most part I go with matchup, but tonight those matchups are pretty even across the board. Houston doesn’t play a whole lot of D and without Beverley they struggle against every position. Here’s who I’ll be targeting today on Denver:
- Kenneth Faried – Faried’s ceiling has been through the roof lately but he’s dropped his share of duds in there as well. The Houston D is 24th against PFs over the last 15 days though and I think that makes Faried one of the best GPP plays tonight.
- Randy Foye – Foye is coming off a solid 40 FP effort and my best guess is the Houston D tries to slow Lawson and leaves Foye open on the wing. He can put up points in bunches and seems to be out of the funk he was having 2-3 weeks ago.
Houston
This one should be entertaining, but I have to admit I’m a little disappointed that Dwight is doubtful because Denver’s interior defense is pretty porous and D12 could have carved them up. But even if Dwight sits, you can still trust that Asik and Jones will do some damage against Denver’s D. Asik’s ceiling has been a little low over the last 4 games, but he still looks like a good play on Sunday given the match up and price point and Jones exploded on Friday. Beyond those two, Denver’s defense is pretty bad all around and no one has been hotter than James Harden over the last couple of weeks. This game should be fast paced and filled with fantasy goodness.
- Terrence Jones – Jones had 45 fantasy points on Friday and with Dwight out + a reduced price tag on a number of sites he makes for an incredible GPP play tonight. I’ll be using him a ton today and I’d advise you do the same.
- Omer Asik – He might be a cash game play only seeing as he’s only topped 30 FP in 1 of his last 4 games, but I can definitely see a huge rebounding game coming against this Nuggets interior.
- James Harden – This game will be high scoring and fast paced so Harden has to be in play tonight. Not much analysis here, it’s just a really good player in a really good matchup.