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NBA Grind Down: Sunday, December 21st

by Ryan138 Last Updated 2014-12-25 05:15:49

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: 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.

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Click ‘Stat Chart’ Buttons Below for Pop-Ups of Essential Game-Specific Statistics including Defense vs. Position and Pace

New York at Toronto

New York Toronto
newyorknba Vegas Total torontonba Vegas Total 197
Vegas Sprd Vegas Sprd -12.5
Team Proj. Team Proj. 105.0
Team Pace 92.06 Team Pace 95.22
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 Jose Calderon Tim Hardaway Carmelo Anthony Amar’e Stoudemire Cole Aldrich Proj Starter Kyle Lowry Terrence Ross Landry Fields Amir Johnson Jonas Valanciunas
Opp. Season 12 1 26 13 11 Opp. Season 7 21 5 20 12
Opp. Last 7 7 9 17 20 4 Opp. Last 7 26 13 3 25 8

New York

The Knicks are really struggling to field a squad these days and are now a ridiculously bad 5-24 after a loss to the Suns yesterday. The Knicks allow just about 100 points per game while scoring only 93.8. The injuries have opened up some plays, but they are risky on this big slate.

Elite Plays

Tim Hardaway Jr. – If he continues to be cheap, Hardaway makes a decent option as he is getting 35 minutes per game and shooting the ball 14+ times. His price is getting a bit too high on some sites and that is why he is a secondary play only.

Secondary Plays

Amare Stoudamire – Amare got the day off yesterday which should mean he gets the start today. Check the news, but if he does, he has been pretty solid overall for the Knicks at a mid-level price.

Toronto

The Raptors come into this game as heavy home favorites to the Knicks. They are the biggest favorite on the board at -12’ with a total of 197’. This takes a little bit of value away from guys like Lowry as the blowout looks like a real possibility.

Elite Plays

Louis Williams – He is getting very close to 30 minutes per game. This is more of a GPP play as we are expecting the blowout and for Williams to get a bunch of garbage time opportunities.

Secondary Plays

Kyle Lowry – Notorious has a very Einstein like formula that he has created for Lowry with DeRozan out. It looks to be true as Lowry has scored at least 32 fantasy points in each of his last 4 games, including two 40+ point games during that span.

Memphis at Cleveland

Memphis Cleveland
memphisnba Vegas Total 197 clevelandnba Vegas Total 197
Vegas Sprd 3.5 Vegas Sprd -3.5
Team Proj. 97.0 Team Proj. 100.5
Team Pace 94.06 Team Pace 94.49
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 Mike Conley Courtney Lee Tayshaun Prince Zach Randolph Marc Gasol Proj Starter Kyrie Irving Mike Miller LeBron James Kevin Love Anderson Varejao
Opp. Season 16 24 12 23 13 Opp. Season 5 25 8 22 2
Opp. Last 7 18 26 1 18 22 Opp. Last 7 8 30 12 29 3

Memphis

The Memphis Grizzlies are shaping up to be one of the best teams in the Western Conference and are going to look to make a statement against the Cavs today. This year’s Memphis squad continues to play great defense and is allowing the 4th least points per game, but have really picked it up on the offensive end this year as they score 102.8 points per game. The total is set at 197’ which means there should be some fantasy goodness especially with the injuries to Randolph and Allen.

Elite Plays

Marc Gasol – It is really hard to ignore what Gasol is doing this year. He is making a big push for MVP consideration as he is averaging 19 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4 assists per game. He should be able to do what he wants against Varejao and Love on the inside today. With Randolph ruled out, it bumps Gasol’s value even more.

Mike Conley – It looks like the Cleveland PG defense is finally coming back down to Earth as they are now ranked 20th against the position. Irving has never been known for his defense and Conley has had a string of quality starts recently. He makes for a great mid-tiered PG option today.

Secondary Plays

Courtney Lee – He is going to get a bunch of minutes and should return value today.

Cleveland

The Cavs start of the season has not looked like they expected. The emergence of Mike Miller as a scorer may help them out a big, but the chemistry needs to start clicking between the studs pretty soon here. They are small home favorites against the Grizzlies at -3 so Vegas believes this should be a close, decently paced game.

Elite Plays

Lebron James- It is really hard to pay up for James against a defense like the Grizzlies, but something tells me he is going to want to come out and have a huge game after that dud the other night against the Hawks.

Secondary Plays

Mike Miller- He is very cheap and just just played 34 minutes for a minimum price. This comes with a disclaimer as he did sprain his ankle on Friday, so make sure you check the news.

Boston at Miami

Boston Miami
bostonnba Vegas Total 201 miaminba Vegas Total 201
Vegas Sprd 1.5 Vegas Sprd -1.5
Team Proj. 99.8 Team Proj. 101.3
Team Pace 100.49 Team Pace 91.61
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 Evan Turner Avery Bradley Jeff Green Jared Sullinger Tyler Zeller Proj Starter Mario Chalmers Dwyane Wade Luol Deng Shawne Williams Chris Andersen
Opp. Season 9 30 2 1 25 Opp. Season 20 8 3 30 20
Opp. Last 7 10 23 4 9 12 Opp. Last 7 1 8 28 11 19

Boston

Boston’s backups played extremely well against a beat up TWolves squad in their first Rondoless game. Today, they will have Nelson, Wright and Crowder in their lineup which will really crowd the front court and complicate the backcourt as well. The game should be fast paced with a total of 201, but it is really hard to trust the Celtics without any idea of what the rotation will look like tonight.

Elite Plays

None- I am not trusting the Celtics tonight. Turner/Bradley may be worth a gpp shot, but are no longer safe cash game plays as Nelson should command some minutes right away it looks like.

Secondary Plays

None

Miami

Miami is dealing with the loss of arguably their best player in Chris Bosh at the moment and it has resulted in a 3-8 record in the month of December for the Heat. In Bosh’s absence, Wade has really stepped up his game and could have a big one today as the Heat are small 1’ point favorites.

Elite Plays

Dwyane Wade – Like I said in the writeup, Wade has really stepped up his game with Bosh being out. It is probably only a matter of time before Wade gets hurt, but it is not a terrible idea to jump on the train before that happens. He has had 3 straight 40+ point fantasy games and needs to carry this team as there are really no other players to do it for the moment.

Secondary Plays

None

Detroit at Brooklyn

Detroit Brooklyn
detroitnba Vegas Total 189 brooklynnba Vegas Total 189
Vegas Sprd 2.0 Vegas Sprd -2.0
Team Proj. 93.5 Team Proj. 95.5
Team Pace 94.84 Team Pace 94.04
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 Brandon Jennings Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Kyle Singler Josh Smith Andre Drummond Proj Starter Deron Williams Sergey Karasev Joe Johnson Kevin Garnett Mason Plumlee
Opp. Season 25 18 22 21 5 Opp. Season 15 19 11 27 23
Opp. Last 7 21 2 29 13 2 Opp. Last 7 19 18 19 27 15

Detroit

The Pistons will take the floor against a beaten up Nets squad who just lost another player to injury. The Pistons have been awful this year sitting at 5-22, but do have a chance here against this Nets squad.

Elite Plays

Andre Drummond – I will still refuse to put him into my cash game lineups as I have been burned in the past too many times, but his recent production and 60 point upside is hard to ignore.

Secondary Plays

None – These Pistons have been so terribly inconsistent it is hard to recommend anyone.

Brooklyn

The big news out of Nets camp is the loss of Deron Williams to an ankle injury. It looks like it should keep him out of this matchup with the Pistons which doesn’t exactly open up a huge value play, but does bump up the value of some of the other guys on the squad.

Elite Plays

Joe Johnson – Johnson is quietly having a pretty decent year as he is averaging 16/5/3 not he offensive end. With DWill out, he will have the offensive load on his shoulders tonight which should really boost his value.

Jarrett Jack – Minutes equal production and Jack should see a big increase in minutes tonight. One of the best values on the board.

Secondary Plays

Mason Plumlee – The guy just keeps reaching value on sites that have not bumped his salary too high. His floor seems to be somewhere around 20-25 points and his ceiling is not much higher than that. He makes a decent cash game punt tonight against the bigs of Detroit who have struggled against the PF and Center positions on the year.

Philadelphia at Orlando

Philadelphia Orlando
philadelphianba Vegas Total 194 orlandonba Vegas Total 194
Vegas Sprd 8.5 Vegas Sprd -8.5
Team Proj. 92.8 Team Proj. 101.3
Team Pace 99.59 Team Pace 94.70
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 Michael Carter-Williams Hollis Thompson Robert Covington Luc Richard Mbah a Moute Nerlens Noel Proj Starter Victor Oladipo Evan Fournier Tobias Harris Channing Frye Nikola Vucevic
Opp. Season 27 14 14 16 28 Opp. Season 18 28 29 17 22
Opp. Last 7 23 19 14 10 26 Opp. Last 7 29 28 22 2 30

Philadelphia

These match ups last year would have had a total set in the high 200’s. Things are a bit different this year as both of these team’s PACE is a bit down this year and the total is a pretty low one actually set at 193.

Elite Plays

Robert Covington – Depending on the site you are on, Covington is still cheap enough to make his salary work tonight. He should get close to 30 minutes and if he is hitting his shot, he will easily hit value.

Secondary Plays

Michael Carter-Williams – His price is just too high for me to love him as a play now that Wroten is fully established in this offense. He does have a great matchup against the Magic who are 26th ranked against point guards on the year.

Orlando

The Magic are finally healthy and should get a bit of a confidence boost from facing the miserable 76ers at home. Vucevic and Harris should be able to control the boards today and the Magic are 8 point favorites which is most likely the biggest favorites they have been this year.

Elite Plays

Nikola Vucevic – The Sixers inside defense has not improved from last year when Vucevic dominated them for averages of 20 points and 15 rebounds in 3 games. I expect something close to that today.

Secondary Plays

Tobias Harris – He is such a perfect cash game play this year as you know that you are going to get a floor of 30 points each and every night. The matchup pretty much guarantees this number again tonight.

NBA Grind Down Page 1 – Page 2

About the Author

Ryan138
Ryan138

Ryan (Ryan138) is from Chicago and has been playing fantasy sports for over 10 years. He has been playing daily fantasy sports for over 2 years since he was introduced to Daily Joust in late 2010. In the last year, Ryan has risen into the Top 100 of the RotoGrinders leaderboards by playing at DraftDay, DraftKings and FanDuel in all the major sports.