NBA Grind Down: Thursday, January 30th
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
Click ‘Stat Chart’ Buttons Below for Pop-Ups of Essential Game-Specific Statistics including Defense vs. Position and Pace
Phoenix at Indiana
- Vegas Line – Indiana -12, Over/Under 199.5
- Phoenix Proj. Starters – Dragic-Green-Tucker-Frye-Plumlee
- Indiana Proj. Starters – Hill-Stephenson-George-West-Hibbert
Phoenix
There are only 3 games on the schedule tonight, but that is better than most Thursdays. The first game of the night features the Suns and Pacers. These two teams met a couple of weeks ago and the Suns ended up blowing the Pacers out. Something tells me that it will be different this time around. The Pacers are 12 point favorites and the Suns are playing in the second half of a back to back.
In case you didn’t know, the Pacers have the league’s best defense. They are extremely stingy when it comes to allowing fantasy points to their opponents. The Pacers are ranked 6th or better at defending every position on the floor this season. Usually good defenses have a crack or two in them, but not the Pacers. Goran Dragic would be the only player that I would consider, but even on a short slate I have a tough time putting him in my lineups.
Indiana
The Pacers are in a favorable position tonight. This game is expected to be high scoring by a Pacers game’s standards. The Suns average close to 98 possessions per game and the Pacers could see an extra possession or two over their season average. The Suns have defended SG’s well this season, but have struggled to defend the other 4 positions as they are ranked 13th or worse against those positions.
All five starters are in play tonight. George Hill makes one of the better value plays tonight. He is cheap on most sites in the industry and is a great punt option. Lance Stephenson has been a fantasy beast at home all season long, but he does have the least favorable matchup on the Pacers. Roy Hibbert is also in play, but as always with Hibbert, his value is very dependent on blocks.
- David West – West is one of the most consistent fantasy players in the league. He has scored over 20 fantasy points in 14 of his last 15 games. You can always rely on him. I like the matchup tonight against the Suns. Frye has never been known for his defense and West should be able to use his size in the post to create some easy buckets.
- Paul George – George played pretty well in their first meeting against the Suns. He posted 26 points and 7 rebounds in limited minutes. I expect him to top those numbers tonight and hopefully add a few assists to the total as well. On a night like tonight with so few games, I think George is a great player to center your team around.
Cleveland at New York
- Vegas Line – New York -6, Over/Under 197
- Cleveland Proj. Starters – Irving-Miles-Deng-Thompson-Zeller
- New York Proj. Starters – Felton-Prigioni-Shumpert-Anthony-Chandler
Cleveland
The Cavs are 6 points underdogs tonight against the Knicks. The main question for the Cavs is the availability of Anderson Varejao. He sat out their last game due to a hurt knee. He is listed as questionable for tonight’s game after participating in portions of the Cavs practice yesterday. If Varejao ends up sitting out, Tyler Zeller would get another start in his place. He really played well in his absence the other night with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Tristan Thompson would also see a decent fantasy boost.
The Knicks have had a very tough interior defense all season long which is pretty incredible when you consider how many injuries they have had to their post players. The Knicks are ranked 1st and 5th against PF’s and Centers on the season, so if Varejao ends up playing, I will likely be avoiding both bigs against this defense. Kyrie Irving makes an interesting play in MSG, but it’s worth noting that he is averaging 10 less FP’s per game on the road this season.
- Luol Deng – I like Deng for a few reasons tonight. First off, the Cavs have really made a strong effort to get him more involved offensively over the past few games. Second, he should play close to 40 minutes as long as he stays out of foul trouble. The Cavs are going to need him on both ends of the floor. Finally, Deng’s price is very cheap across the board. Combine those three and Deng makes a solid play tonight.
New York
The Knicks are looking for their 4th straight win tonight. They have a favorable matchup against the Cavs and the Knicks are one of the better teams to target tonight for DFS. Over the last 15 days, the Cavs are ranked 18th or worse at defending PG’s, SG’s, SF’s, and Centers. J.R. Smith makes an interesting play off the bench, he has averaged around 35 minutes over his last 6 games. Raymond Felton also makes a nice play, the Cavs have given up the 2nd most FP’s of any team to opposing PG’s.
- Carmelo Anthony – Carmelo has been on an incredible tear and it’s largely gone unnoticed because of the tear that Kevin Durant is on. Melo has scored over 45 FP’s in each of his last 6 games and has a solid matchup tonight against the Cavs. It will be interesting to see if the Knicks start Kenyon Martin to match up with the Cavs or if they stay small and try to exploit Carmelo’s mismatch against Thompson.
- Tyson Chandler – I’ve been high on Chandler over the last few games and while he has played well, the blowouts have really hurt his production. I expect this game to stay close and I think Chandler posts another big double-double. He would see a nice fantasy boost if Varejao sits out.
L.A.Clippers at Golden State
- Vegas Line – Golden State -5.5, Over/Under 212
- L.A.Clippers Proj. Starters – Collison-Redick-Barnes-Griffin-Jordan
- Golden State Proj. Starters – Curry-Thompson-Iguodala-Lee-Bogut
L.A.Clippers
If you were to tell me a month ago that the Clippers would only be 5 point underdogs in a game on the road against the Warriors on the second half of a back to back, I would have thought that you were crazy. But the Clippers haven’t skipped a beat without Paul. While they are obviously a better team with CP3 in the lineup, the Clippers have really had some players step up and play well.
The Warriors are one of the fastest paced teams in the league, but they do play pretty solid defense. However, over the past 15 days, the Warriors are ranked 20th or worse against SG’s, SF’s, and PF’s. Darren Collison makes an interesting play tonight, I like the matchup against Curry and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him play 35+ minutes as he will be tasked with defending Curry. DeAndre Jordan has a tough matchup tonight, I think Chandler or Hibbert are better options at Center.
- Blake Griffin – Griffin has really stepped up his play with Chris Paul out. He has become the focal point of this offense. He’s topped 40 fantasy points in 4 of his last 5 games and should be able to top that mark tonight. This will be the highest scoring game of the night and centering your team around Griffin looks like the way to go tonight.
Golden State
The Warriors are projected to be the highest scoring team on the board tonight. This should be a very fast-paced games with great fantasy options from both teams. The only position that the Clippers defend really well is the PG position. That makes it tough because you can never really rule out Stephen Curry. That said, I am going to trust the numbers and avoid Curry tonight in my cash games. I think Carmelo and Griffin are both better options if you are looking for a stud to center your team around.
- David Lee – Lee’s price has come down a bit on most sites which helps his value even more tonight. With Lee, you know what you are going to get each night. He’s going to give you around 20 points and around 10 rebounds. Lee averages close to 35 fantasy points against the Clippers and that’s what you can expect out of him tonight.
- Klay Thompson – Klay had a stretch there where he had 2 or less rebounds in 7 straight games. When he isn’t doing other things on the floor, it really hurts his fantasy value. I think he is a bit risky tonight, but he will be going head to head with Redick. He will want to play well in this one.
- Andre Iguodala – If I had to choose between Klay or Iggy, I would give the slight edge to Iggy because he fills up all areas of the stat sheet. Iggy has a nice offensive game, but he doesn’t need to score 15+ points to cover his value in DFS.