NBA Grind Down: Sunday, January 25th - Page Three
Houston at L.A. Lakers – 9:30 pm EST
- Vegas Line – Houston -7.5, 207.5 Over/Under
- Houston Proj. Starters – Beverley-Harden-Ariza-Motiejunas-Howard
- L.A. Lakers Proj. Starters – Clarkson-Ellington-Kelly-Hill-Sacre
| Houston | L.A. Lakers | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Total | 207 |  | Vegas Total | 207 | |||||||
| Vegas Sprd | -7.5 | Vegas Sprd | 7.5 | |||||||||
| Team Proj. | 107.50 | Team Proj. | 100.00 | |||||||||
| Team Pace | 98.48 | Team Pace | 97.26 | |||||||||
| 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 | Patrick Beverley | James Harden | Trevor Ariza | Danatas Motiejunas | Dwight Howard | Proj Starter | Jordan Clarkson | Wayne Ellington | Ryan Kelly | Jordan Hill | Robert Sacre | |
| Opp. Season | 30 | 17 | 13 | 14 | 26 | Opp. Season | 3 | 21 | 16 | 20 | 15 | |
| Opp. Last 7 | 29 | 21 | 24 | 11 | 4 | Opp. Last 7 | 23 | 30 | 4 | 27 | 24 | |
Houston
Another game I was surprised to see the spread on is this one. Houston will go into L.A. as 7-point favorites, as Howard may miss this one as he took himself out of their last game. That puts some of the Rockets in play now especially if they are missing one of their big stars, but make sure to check the news. If Dwight is out, it would make Dorsey a viable punt play and bump the minutes of Motiejunas.
Elite Plays
James Harden – Playing at an MVP type level in a prime match up against the Lakers who are one of the worst defensive teams in the league. I think Harden will be highly owned as he is by far the top option at the shooting guard position tonight.
Secondary Plays
Trevor Ariza – Price and pace come into play here as he continues to be cheap and play a ton of minutes.
Patrick Beverley – The Lakers are the worst team in the league at defending the point guard position. Beverley’s ceiling is not incredibly high, but should be able to reach value in this match up.
L.A. Lakers
The Lakers’ already terrible season is now completely over as Kobe is done. The problem with the Lakers is we really do not know who will step up on any given night. I really struggle to find anyone worth playing unless you want to take a long shot at Nick Young putting up a big game as the points will have to come from somewhere.
Elite Plays
None
Secondary Plays
None