NBA Grind Down: Tuesday, December 10th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2013-12-10 20:47:31

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

New York at Cleveland

Vegas Line – Cleveland -2.5, 188.5 Over/Under
New York Proj. Starters – Felton-Shumpert-Anthony-Bargnani-Martin
Cleveland Proj. Starters – Irving-Waiters-Gee-Thompson-Bynum

New York

Vegas expects this to be a close game and there are surprisingly quite a few fantasy options in this game. The Cavs have been one of the worst teams defensively all season long and even though the Knicks have been struggling offensively, they should be able to get it going tonight. The Cavs rank in the bottom 8 in the league against PG’s, SF’s, and PF’s. Even though the matchup doesn’t look great on paper for Andrea Bargnani, I think Bynum is going to have a real tough time defending him on the perimeter. I think Bargnani and Iman Shumpert both make nice GPP plays.

Carmelo Anthony – Melo has put up at least 19 points and 10 rebounds in six of his last nine games. Those are impressive numbers for a guy that has never really been known to hit the glass. He’s playing great and has a nice matchup against the Cavs who have really struggled to defend SF’s this season.

Raymond Felton – Felton is flying under the radar tonight. He has an extremely low price tag on a couple of different sites and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him top 25 fantasy points in this one. Irving has not played very good defense this season and Felton is in a nice spot for a bounce back game.

Cleveland

The Cavs are only averaging 92 points per game this season which is at the very bottom of the league, but the Cavs have some depressed salaries across the board and this may be the first time in a long while that I will be using more than one Cavs player in my cash games. The Knicks have struggled against PG’s this season and it’s pretty obvious why, Felton has never been a good defender. I will be avoiding both of the wings in this matchup as well as Tristan Thompson, but there are two plays that I’m really high on tonight.

Kyrie Irving – In case you haven’t noticed, Irving is under $11,000 on DS today. Even with him playing bad, he is a must play at this price. Irving has had 25 fantasy point halves in his career and he should easily make value in this one. His value on other sites depends on his price, but the matchup lines up well for him.

Andrew Bynum – Bynum is still cheap across the board and has had at least 24 fantasy points in each of his last three games. He has a big size and strength advantage over Bargnani and I expect him to reach double-digit rebounds easily in this one.

Miami at Indiana

Vegas Line – Indiana -3, 190 Over/Under
Miami Proj. Starters – Chalmers-Wade-James-Battier-Bosh
Indiana Proj. Starters – Hill-Stephenson-George-West-Hibbert

Miami

I can’t wait to watch this game. These two teams are very evenly matched and the Pacers may be the only team in the league that has a legitmate shot at beating the Heat in the playoffs. Both of these teams are going to treat this game as a statement game. The Heat want to prove that they are still the Kings of the East and the Pacers want to knock them off their throne.

In games like this, I always like to target the King himself. LeBron James is the best player in the NBA, but often looks like he isn’t even trying. When he if fully engaged, he can put up close to triple double type numbers. Even in a tough matchup, I’m expecting big things from LeBron tonight. That said, there are plenty of other options so by no means is he a must play. Use him as a GPP play. The rest of the Heat can be ignored against the Pacers who have a suffocating defense.

Indiana

The Pacers have a tough matchup against the Heat. Both of these teams have top 10 defenses and I expect this one to be a hard fought, low scoring battle. The Heat rank in the top 11 against every position except for Center and that’s probably the only position that you should be targeting in cash games. Roy Hibbert played well against the Heat last season and will have a huge size advantage over the much smaller bigs of the Heat.

Paul George makes a great GPP play tonight. He played great against the Heat last season, but I don’t know if I can ever trust anyone going toe to toe with LeBron in my cash games. LeBron has great defense and it makes George a risky play.

San Antonio at Toronto

Vegas Line – San Antonio -7, 198 Over/Under
San Antonio Proj. Starters – Parker-Green-Leonard-Duncan-Splitter
Toronto Proj. Starters – Lowry-DeRozan-Ross-Johnson-Valanciunas

San Antonio

The Spurs are never my favorite team to see on the schedule. Not only are they coached by Pop who loves to sit his starters, but they have one of the highest point differentials in the league which means they consistently blow teams out. The over/under of this game looks a little high to me, both of these teams play at a slow pace and both are pretty solid defensively.

The Raptors weakest positions defensively are SG and SF, but Danny Green is far from a viable fantasy option at this point. I think there is some value with Kawhi Leonard, but his limited minutes really hurt his value. I think if you are going to target anyone from the Spurs, it has to be the man from France.

Tony Parker – The Raptors are ranked 25th against PG’s over the last two weeks so Parker does have that going for him. The issue with Parker usually isn’t the matchup, it’s usually the minutes. With the Spurs being in so many blowouts, you can never really predict his minutes. That said, his price is attractive on a few different sites.

Toronto

The Raptors will be playing their first game without Rudy Gay and their new acquisitions of Vasquez and Patterson won’t be making their debut tonight. Expect Landry Fields to start at the SF position and DeMar DeRozan to pick up a few extra minutes as well. There hasn’t been an update on Tyler Hansbrough availability for tonight’s game, so make sure to check the injury news closer to tip-off. If he sits out again, both Amir Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas would make solid value plays.

Kyle Lowry – Lowry is one of my favorite fantasy options when he is playing at a high level because he does a little bit of everything on the court. He has topped 30 fantasy points in each of his last four games and has done it by filling up the stat sheet. Don’t be afraid to use him tonight against the Spurs.

Oklahoma City at Atlanta

Vegas Line – Oklahoma City -4.5, 203 Over/Under
Oklahoma City Proj. Starters – Westbrook-Sefolosha-Durant-Ibaka-Perkins
Atlanta Proj. Starters – Teague-Williams-Carroll-Millsap-Horford

Oklahoma City

The Thunder travel to Atlanta to take on the Hawks in what should be a high scoring game. They will be without Thabo Sefolosha tonight so look for Andre Roberson to get the start. I don’t think that he is a great fantasy option, but I do give a slight bump to Jeremy Lamb. He makes a nice GPP play coming off the bench.

The Hawks have struggled to defend SG’s and Centers this season, but neither Roberson or Perkins make good plays tonight. Serge Ibaka price has come down across the board. I think he makes a solid play for the price. Kevin Durant is also in play, but his price is way up there. To me, the best value here is Westbrook.

Russell Westbrook – Westbrook is coming off of his best game of the season in which he posted 26 points, 13 assists, and 7 rebounds. While I’m not expecting a repeat performance, Westbrook is a streaky player and now is a great time to take him before his price goes up. The Hawks have been very average against PG’s and he should be able to get his own shot whenever he wants it.

Atlanta

The Hawks have a nice matchup against the Thunder as both of these teams like to push the tempo. Vegas has the total of this game set at 203 points which means both teams should score some points. The Thunder have really struggled to defend PG’s and PF’s and those are the two positions that I am recommending. Be careful of taking Al Horford in this one, the Thunder are ranked 3rd against Centers this season.

Jeff Teague – Teague’s price keeps dropping and now is the perfect time to buy low on him. He has a favorable matchup against the Thunder who are ranked 29th against PG’s. Teague is cheap and should easily cover his value and more.

Paul Millsap – Millsap has been on fire over the past four games. He has scored over 40 fantasy points in every game during that stretch and the matchup lines up well for him again tonight. The Thunder are giving up the 3rd most fantasy points to opposing PF’s this season.

Boston at Brooklyn

Vegas Line – Brooklyn -2.5, 193.5 Over/Under
Boston Proj. Starters – Crawford-Bradley-Green-Sullinger-Bass
Brooklyn Proj. Starters – Williams-Johnson-Pierce-Garnett-Lopez

Boston

The Celtics have played surprisingly well this season and they are looking like geniuses after trading away Pierce and Garnett. They have gotten great contributions from Bradley, Crawford, Green, Bass, and Sullinger. They have a favorable matchup tonight against the team that they traded Pierce and KG to. The Nets defend SF’s and PF’s well and really struggle against the other three positions. While I still think there is value in the matchup for Jeff Green, he’s not my favorite play here.

Jared Sullinger – Sully has posted over 20 fantasy points in seven of his last eight games and the one game that he didn’t get to 20, he was in foul trouble right from the get go. He has a great matchup against the very slow Brook Lopez tonight. Sullinger is cheap across the board and should top 25 points in this favorable matchup.

Brooklyn

The Nets are a very slow paced team, but Vegas expects this one to be fairly high scoring. That may be from the fact that Deron Williams will be back in the lineup tonight. This means the run for Livingston and Taylor as value plays comes to an end, but I don’t think anyone will be too sad about that as neither had been playing well. Williams is cheap, but until he proves that he can still play at a high level, my suggestion is to stay far away from him.

The Celtics DvP rankings are a bit confusing because their rankings over the last two weeks do not match their rankings over the entire season. They have had some different pieces in their starting lineup, but I’m not sure which rankings to trust more. For that reason, take the Nets that have the best value. Joe Johnson, Alan Anderson, and Brook Lopez are all decent plays so if any of them are under-priced on the site that you play on, don’t hesitate to take them.