NBA Grind Down: Sunday, December 28th - Page Two
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Phoenix at L.A. Lakers
- Vegas Line – Phoenix -6, 214 Over/Under
- Phoenix Proj. Starters – Dragic-Bledsoe-Tucker-Morris-Len
- L.A. Lakers Proj. Starters – Price-Bryant-Johnson-Davis-Hill
| Phoenix | L.A. Lakers | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Total | 214 |  | Vegas Total | 214 | |||||||
| Vegas Sprd | -6.0 | Vegas Sprd | 6.0 | |||||||||
| Team Proj. | 110.00 | Team Proj. | 104.00 | |||||||||
| Team Pace | 98.63 | Team Pace | 97.73 | |||||||||
| 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 | Goran Dragic | Eric Bledsoe | P.J. Tucker | Markieff Morris | Alex Len | Proj Starter | Ronnie Price | Kobe Bryant | Wesley Johnson | Ed Davis | Jordan Hill | |
| Opp. Season | 30 | 7 | 22 | 27 | 15 | Opp. Season | 12 | 19 | 5 | 7 | 29 | |
| Opp. Last 7 | 15 | 16 | 9 | 24 | 12 | Opp. Last 7 | 12 | 4 | 21 | 7 | 25 | |
Phoenix
The Suns are clinging onto the last playoff spot in the Western Conference right now riding a five game winning streak with four of those wins coming on the road. They are going to be a heavily targeted team with the pace of this game expected to be very high and the matchup of the Lakers being one of the best that there is to attack.
Elite Plays
Alex Len — Len is a very safe option on FanDuel for only $4,200. He’s been over 20 FD points in six consecutive games (increasing in each) and has played over 20 minutes in each of his last four games. He is one of the best rim protectors in the NBA and has 10x upside at this price. He’s a great play in cash games and should be one of the most heavily owned players.
Secondary Plays
Eric Bledsoe — Bledsoe is a high-energy player and will be a tough cover for Kobe Bryant tonight. His price keeps rising on DraftKings and is $1,000 more than Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade were yesterday, so don’t use him there. On FanDuel though, you get a big discount and need about 15 fewer points from him in a GPP than you would on DK.
L.A. Lakers
Kobe Bryant is expected to return from his week off of rest tonight against the Suns. The matchup for him is great — he is averaging over 50 DK points in two games against the Suns so far this season — but it’s hard to imagine him playing the 35+ minutes that he’s averaging on the season moving forward. Guards and centers have done well against Phoenix this year, but forwards have struggled.
Elite Plays
Jordan Hill — Some of the best fantasy performances of the season have come from centers against the Suns. Andre Drummond, Chris Bosh, Reggie Evans, Tyson Chandler and more have all dominated them in just the past few weeks. Hill is a little bit over-priced right now, but in a FanDuel GPP for $5,900 you can expose yourself up to the best positional matchup on the board.
Secondary Plays
Ed Davis — Davis is a risky play because he could play 20 minutes or he could play 30+. He has exceeded tournament value in each of his last three games on both FanDuel and DraftKings, and with a short slate he can even be considered for cash games.
Wesley Johnson — Johnson’s value takes a major hit with the return of Kobe, but since I hate all of the small forward options I’ll likely use Johnson quite a bit in order to get cheap exposure to this game.