NBA Grind Down: Sunday, March 23rd Page Two
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Cleveland at New York
- Vegas Line – New York -9.5, 199 Over/Under
- Cleveland Proj. Starters – Jack-Waiters-Gee-Thompson-Hawes
- New York Proj. Starters – Felton-Smith-Anthony-Stoudemire-Chandler
Cleveland
The Cavs are extremely short handed right now and with no update on C.J. Miles or Luol Deng, I’m going to assume that they will sit out tonight’s game. With all of the injuries to the Cavs, Dion Waiters, Jarrett Jack, and Matthew Dellavedova have all been great fantasy options at their respective prices. They are in play again tonight against the Knicks. My favorite of the three has to be Dion Waiters who has topped 34 FP’s in each of his last 3 games. The bigs of the Cavs should be avoided tonight against the Knicks’ frontcourt.
New York
The Knicks are facing a very short handed Cavs team tonight. The Knicks have now won 8 games in a row and I could easily see this game turning into a blowout. The Cavs are not a great road team, they are short handed, and they are playing on the second half of a back to back. As hard as it may be, I think I will be fading Carmelo Anthony here. His price is just a little too high with the potential blowout. My favorite play here is probably Amare Stoudemire.
Orlando at L.A.Lakers
- Vegas Line – L.A.Lakers -4.5, 216 Over/Under
- Orlando Proj. Starters – Nelson-Afflalo-Harkless-O’Quinn-Vucevic
- L.A.Lakers Proj. Starters – Marshall-Meeks-Johnson-Kelly-Gasol
Orlando
This may be the game of the night. Two of the NBA’s worst teams face off in what should be a very fast-paced, high scoring game. Jameer Nelson missed last night’s game against the Jazz, but his status against the Lakers is still up in the air. If he is forced to sit out, Victor Oladipo immediately becomes one of the top plays tonight. His minutes and production take a huge spike when Nelson is out. The other starters are all in play here as well. Arron Afflalo is cheap, Nikola Vucevic should have a big game on the glass, Kyle O’Quinn continues to post 20+ FP’s per game, and Maurice Harkless makes a great value play at SF.
L.A.Lakers
The Lakers always have a ton of injuries, so let me break them down for you real quick. Wesley Johnson will be back in the starting lineup, Nick Young is back and in the rotation, Steve Nash is a game-time decision, and Jordan Farmar, Xavier Henry, and Chris Kaman are all out. With the Lakers guard situation as messy as ever, I’m not sure I will be targeting any of them in cash games. Jodie Meeks is probably the safest of the bunch though. Robert Sacre makes a nice punt option at Center if he draws another start.
- Pau Gasol – I always like targeting Pau in games that are expected to be close because the entire offense runs through him when he is on the floor. This is a solid matchup as the Magic aren’t a great rebounding team and they are below average at defending Centers this season.