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NBA Grind Down: Sunday, November 2nd

by Ryan138 Last Updated 2014-11-04 03:52:11

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: Any 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

Sacramento at L.A. Clippers

Sacramento L.A. Clippers
NBASacramento_zps2032fed8 Vegas Total 206 NBALAClippers_zps81adcd39 Vegas Total 206
Vegas Sprd 11.5 Vegas Sprd -11.5
Team Proj. 97.5 Team Proj. 109.0
Team Pace 104.74 Team Pace 97.48
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 Darren Collison Ben McLemore Rudy Gay Jason Thompson DeMarcus Cousins Proj Starter Chris Paul J.J. Redick Matt Barnes Blake Griffin DeAndre Jordan
Opp. Season 15 15 12 12 1 Opp. Season 5 5 30 30
Opp. Last 7 15 15 12 12 1 Opp. Last 7 5 5 30 30

Sacramento

After getting embarrassed by the Golden State Warriors in their first game, the Kings came back with an impressive win over Portland last game out. This was mostly due to a huge effort from Rudy Gay (40 points) as well as a strong effort from Collison, who added 17 points. The Kings now have a tough matchup against the Clippers where they are big underdogs, but the game features a high total of 206. If the Kings come out like they did against the Blazers, they should be able to keep this game close and produce some quality fantasy stats.

Prime Plays

Rudy Gay – After that 40-point performance on Friday, Gay makes an obvious prime play. The small forward position is always a tough one to find good plays, which makes him stand out even more in the small slate of games. While I do not expect another 40 burger, I do expect him to hit value in what should be an uptempo game.

Secondary Plays

Darren Collison – I cringe to put Collison into the writeup today, but the minutes are just to high to ignore at this point. He played 38 minutes on Friday, while his backup Sessions only played 10. He produced big time during that span with 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. I know that Paul is a great defender, but with so few games today, Collison is one of the better, cheap point guard options out there.

L.A. Clippers

The Clippers have a 2-0 record, but have not been able to close their opponents like they should. Their first two games were against the injury ridden Thunder, and Kobe’s Lakers. In both games they got up big, only to see their leads vanish in the fourth quarter. This is great for fantasy purposes as their starters have to play in the fourth to ensure that win. We will see if Vegas’ 9-point favorite can keep the lead throughout today against the Kings.

Prime Plays

Blake Griffin – Blake has been the best player on the floor for the Clippers in the first two games. He is coming off a huge 39 point effort against the Lakers and now will battle inside with Jason Thompson and Cousins. Last year, Blake averaged 21 points, 10.8 rebounds and 5 assists against this frontcourt. He makes for my top PF play today.

Chris Paul – Paul will not come cheap today, but as a fantasy player you will most likely have to make a decision between Curry and Paul for your top point guard position. Paul has a great matchup against Collison who is undersized and should not put up much of a defensive effort against CP. Paul is averaging 8.5 assists after the first two games to go along with 17 points. The game should be high scoring and if it is close, Paul will have a big game.

Secondary Plays

DeAndre Jordan – DeAndre is a good cash game play today, as he will consistently get you about 10 points and 10-15 rebounds. He sometimes will explode with a huge game, but those are tough to predict and few and far between. His price is about where it should be for his production, and he should reach value.

J.J. Redick – He gave us a big dud in their opening game, but came back to play 33 minutes and scored 26 fantasy points against the Lakers. He is very cheap across the industry and will be needed in order to get some of the Currys and Griffins in your lineup today.

Toronto at Miami

Toronto Miami
NBAToronto_zpsad5b934d Vegas Total 195 NBAMiami_zps6cddb1ba Vegas Total 195
Vegas Sprd 4.5 Vegas Sprd 4.5
Team Proj. 95.3 Team Proj. 99.8
Team Pace 97.50 Team Pace 92.84
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 Norris Cole Dwyane Wade Luol Deng Josh McRoberts Chris Bosh
Opp. Season 6 6 14 14 7 Opp. Season 2 2 19 19 24
Opp. Last 7 6 6 14 14 7 Opp. Last 7 2 2 19 19 24

Toronto

Toronto comes into Miami undefeated after beating Orlando last night. They are coming off one of their best seasons in the NBA and are looking to make themselves into one of the better teams in the East. In order to do that though, they are going to have to win games like this against Miami. They have a great cast of players this year led by DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry. They have a few good big men as well such as Amir Johnson and Valanciunas. The problem I see with this Toronto team is they lean so heavily on the scoring of DeRozan and their bench play has not been that great other than a few points from Vazquez. They are slight underdogs here today, but the game should be close from start to finish, which means the starters will get all the opportunities possible to reach value.

Prime Plays

DeMar DeRozan – He is my top shooting guard today and for good reason. He is looked upon to lead the Raptors night in and night out in scoring and he is not afraid to put up 15+ shots a game to do so. What has been very interesting about his game so far is the fact that he has 19 rebounds after 2 games. I am not sure if this will continue, but it is a huge bonus for fantasy owners in the early goings.

Secondary Plays

Amir Johnson – Amir makes a great mid-tier power forward for our slate today. He is averaging close to 30 fantasy points after the first two games, which is just above what his price indicates his value should be. Amir should be matched up with an undersized big man for the Heat assuming Haslem is still out of their lineup, so he should have a good matchup tonight.

Miami

Miami comes into this game led by their star, Chris Bosh. They are 2-0 on the season due to the great play by their big man and he will look to make it 3-0 against his former club, where he made himself into a star. After Bosh, the Heat have been getting contributions from a number of players, including Cole, Chalmers, Wade and Deng. The crew behind Bosh are not putting up huge numbers each and every night, but enough to blowout the Sixers and beat the Wizards as well. Vegas has the Heat winning again as small 2-point favorites at home, with a total of 197’.

Prime Plays

Chris Bosh – After watching Bosh play the last two games, he is my top center for the day in this short slate. He is playing like a man possessed to show the NBA that he can lead a team each and every night and is trying to remind us of what he was doing in Toronto, Pre-LeBron. He is averaging 28 points and 11 rebounds, and I think we are going to see numbers similar to that each night.

Secondary Plays

None

Charlotte at New York

Charlotte New York
hornets-logo Vegas Total 190 NBANewYork_zps8e2409cd Vegas Total 190
Vegas Sprd 4.0 Vegas Sprd 4.0
Team Proj. 93.0 Team Proj. 97.0
Team Pace 97.05 Team Pace 88.10
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 Kemba Walker Lance Stephenson Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Marvin Williams Al Jefferson Proj Starter Shane Larkin Iman Shumpert Carmelo Anthony Quincy Acy Jason Smith
Opp. Season 12 12 7 7 10 Opp. Season 14 14 9 9 21
Opp. Last 7 12 12 7 7 10 Opp. Last 7 14 14 9 9 21

Charlotte

Charlotte has not been very good in their first two games this season. They have a 1-1 record to show for it, but it took a last second shot and overtime in order to beat what should be a bad Bucks team on their homecourt. In their second game, they were only able to score 69 points against a very good and defensive Memphis team last night. They will look to bounce back today against a Knicks team that is coming off a huge win.

Prime Plays

Kemba Walker – Looking at yesterday’s box score, Kemba went 1-11 and scored just 5 points in 31 minutes. This may be due to the tough matchup he had against the Grizzles, but regardless, he was embarrassed and will look to bounce back in a big way. It should be a bit easier against the rookie Larkin today, so Kemba may be a nice contrarian point guard today.

Al Jefferson – He falls into the same boat as Kemba. He has not played well in the first two games this year, but we all saw what he is capable of when he is on. He can be the highest scoring player on any given night when the matchup is right. Big Al will be battling with the likes of Acy, Stoudemire and Dalembert (if he gets minutes) and I like Big Al against all three of those guys. I do have Bosh ahead of Jefferson in my rankings, but I expect a nice bounce back from him here.

Secondary Plays

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist – He is a value play and nothing else. Even while struggling against Memphis, he still put up 11 points and 12 rebounds. At his price that is more than enough to make value.

New York

After being embarrassed opening night and playing no offense or defense, the Knicks went into LeBron’s house and came out with a win. The biggest difference I saw in terms of how the team played was that Melo looked for his shot early and often. Against the Bulls, Carmelo seemed to try to pass the ball every chance he got which is the exact opposite of the Anthony that we have seen since he came into the league. With the Knicks winning, I think we will see more of the shoot-first Melo tonight. The Knicks are small favorites at -4 in a game that Vegas thinks will be the lowest scoring of the slate at 187.

Prime Plays

Carmelo Anthony – The team will be led night in and night out by really the player they have in Anthony. It pains me that he would come back to the Knicks and not go to the Bulls after looking at them play on opening night with this roster. I guess Anthony may care about shooting the ball 20 times a game rather than winning a championship, because he really has no one to pass to on this team. He is really expensive and I would take Blake over Anthony today, but with that said, he will need to win the game for his team, which could result in some big numbers.

Secondary Plays

Shane Larkin – Only here because we need some plays for the short slate, Larkin may be needed as the true value point guard play tonight. He is close to minimum price and should hit value, especially if he is able to get a few steals to add to the couple assists and points he will get.

Golden State at Portland

Golden State Portland
NBAGoldenState_zps23271bdb Vegas Total 207 NBAPortland_zpsd30b1e10 Vegas Total 207
Vegas Sprd 3.5 Vegas Sprd 3.5
Team Proj. 101.8 Team Proj. 105.3
Team Pace 104.74 Team Pace 93.56
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 Stephen Curry Klay Thompson Harrison Barnes Draymond Green Andrew Bogut Proj Starter Damian Lillard Wesley Matthews Nicolas Batum LaMarcus Aldridge Robin Lopez
Opp. Season 9 9 17 17 16 Opp. Season 8 8 20 20 4
Opp. Last 7 9 9 17 17 16 Opp. Last 7 8 8 20 20 4

Golden State

Golden State comes into this game looking to go 3-0 against a good Blazers squad. The Warriors are coming off two really impressive beatings of the Kings and the Lakers, but now are 3-point underdogs against Portland. The Warriors were led by a huge performance from Klay last night, as he went for 30, and of course they are always backboned by Curry’s ridiculous numbers. This looks to be the first game the Warriors play in that should be close to the end, so I expect some very big fantasy performances in this one.

Prime Plays

Stephen Curry – Like I said in the Paul writeup, you are probably going to have to choose which point guard to start tonight between these two. I have Curry ranked higher due to the matchup and the fact that Curry is relied on more for his scoring in this Warriors offense. Lillard was not a good defender at all last year and I expect Curry to be easily one of the top scoring players at any position tonight.

Draymond Green – Value play only if Lee sits out again. He burned us a bit last night, but I expect a much better effort in a bigger game tonight.

Secondary Plays

Klay Thompson – I like Klay in this spot a lot as he is coming off a great shooting performance. The problem is he is so scoring dependent that I do not always like playing him across the board. Regardless, I think he has another fine night against the Blazers.

Portland

Portland is 1-1 and was surprisingly beat by the Sacramento Kings in their last game. They will look to bounce back here today against the Warriors as small favorites in a game that has a total of 205’. I think Portland comes out firing today after that poor performance in their last game and it has the looks of a shootout.

Prime Plays

Nicolas Batum – Batum played well on opening night, but than played poorly like the rest of the Blazers last game. I think he matches up well with whoever they will put on him here and he should be able to fill up the stat sheet easily against the Warriors.

LaMarcus Aldridge – The toughest choice tonight will be to decide between LA, Blake and Melo. I have Blake as my number 1 and than the other two very close. Aldridge has played the Warriors well in the past and last year averaged 24 points and 11 rebounds against them. It will be a close and high scoring game, so Aldridge is definitely in play.

Secondary Plays

Wesley Matthews – Matthews is a good mid-tiered shooting guard if you have the salary to pay up for him. He went 1-7 from three in their last matchup, but what is nice is the fact that he is shooting 7 threes in a game. He will launch them up and when he is on, he should reach/exceed value. Klay is a good defender, but Matthews seems to find the corners and be open enough to get his shots on a nightly basis.

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.