NBA Grind Down: Sunday, March 8th - Page Two

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Toronto at Oklahoma City – 7:00 PM EST

Toronto Oklahoma City
Article Image Vegas Total 199.0 Article Image Vegas Total 212
Vegas Sprd -4.0 Vegas Sprd -6.0
Team Proj. 101.50 Team Proj. 109.25
Team Pace 95.84 Team Pace 97.84
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 Kyle Lowry DeMar DeRozan Terrence Ross Amir Johnson Jonas Valanciunas Proj Starter Russell Westbrook Andre Roberson Kyle Singler Serge Ibaka Enes Kanter
Opp. Season 28 5 15 25 4 Opp. Season 21 12 27 7 10
Opp. Last 7 24 18 16 27 14 Opp. Last 7 23 15 29 9 17

Toronto

Toronto has become a very tough team to predict at this point, but have been led by DeRozan, who is averaging 30 real points in his last three games. This is a team that was one of the best in the East earlier in the season, but has now lost seven of eight even with the return of Lowry. They will have to try to slow down the machine that is Westbrook, but it should be a close game as they are only six-point underdogs.

Elite Plays

DeMar DeRozan – It took him long enough, but DeRozan is finally dominating. He is scoring a ton of real points right now and his price has risen slowly as it was coming from a pretty low point. He and Oladipo make solid options today and DeRozan is playing in the highest total game of the night slate.

Secondary Plays

Louis Williams – You know the drill by now. With a fully healthy team, Williams cannot be relied upon each and every night, but makes a great GPP play with his price and his 35-point upside.

Oklahoma City

It begins and ends with one guy today, and there is really not a whole lot to say other than that. This game has a huge total set at 212 and has the Raptors with the fifth-highest scoring offense against the tenth-ranked Thunder. This should be a high-tempo game today and a fun one to watch. The Thunder really don’t have a whole lot of fantasy guys I want to target, even with the high total, especially if Adams returns tonight.

Elite Plays

Russell Westbrook – He is ridiculous as well as ridiculously priced. On FanDuel, he needs to score over 60 fantasy points, which is unreal, yet he has done that in each of his last four games. Just plug him in.

Secondary Plays

Serge Ibaka – His price is a bit high now and he makes me a bit nervous as he does disappear at times. Ibaka though has big time upside and has paid off his salary twice in his last three games. There is always a bit of risk with Ibaka as he also has a tough match up against the Raptors who own a top ten inside defense.

Dallas at L.A. Lakers – 9:30 PM EST

Dallas L.A. Lakers
Article Image Vegas Total 202 Article Image Vegas Total 202
Vegas Sprd -7.00 Vegas Sprd 7.00
Team Proj. 104.75 Team Proj. 97.75
Team Pace 96.57 Team Pace 96.91
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 Rajon Rondo Monta Ellis Chandler Parsons Dirk Nowitzki Tyson Chandler Proj Starter Jordan Clarkson Wayne Ellington Ryan Kelly Carlos Boozer Robert Sacre
Opp. Season 30 20 19 12 26 Opp. Season 24 8 13 10 16
Opp. Last 7 12 23 8 20 27 Opp. Last 7 17 7 23 7 24

Dallas

The last game of the slate has the healthier Mavericks going into LA as seven-point favorites to take on the Lakers. Normally, a matchup against the Lakers would be full of fantasy goodness, but the return of Parsons and being close to fully healthy, the Mavs are likely to spread the ball around and make it tough to pick players who will stand out. I can see the merit in taking GPP flyers on guys like Rondo, Ellis and Dirk, but the game logs are plain ugly without Parsons in the lineup.

Elite Plays

None

Secondary Plays

None

L.A. Lakers

The Lakers are another pretty rough fantasy team, as all the young guys play hard, but do not put up a whole lot of fantasy points. I hate not having players from the last game of a slate, but do see a few value plays from the Lakers that should return. This game has a total of 202 and is not at a spread with total blowout potential.

Elite Plays

Secondary Plays

Jordan Clarkson – I like Clarkson, as when he gets 30+ minutes, he usually can get around the 25-30 point range. He has had some tough matchups recently and has played pretty well in them. Today’s matchup is a good one against Rondo and I think he should reach value for his price.

Wayne Ellington – Purely a punt play, Ellington plays a ton of minutes with Nick Young out. He is not going win you a GPP, but should not hurt your lineup and should save you some salary to fit in Westbrook.

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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.