NBA Grind Down: Tuesday, December 10th - Page 2
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Minnesota at Detroit
- Vegas Line – Detroit -1.5, 202.5 Over/Under
- Minnesota Proj. Starters – Rubio-Martin-Brewer-Love-Pekovic
- Detroit Proj. Starters – Jennings-Stuckey-Smith-Monroe-Drummond
Minnesota
The Wolves and Pistons is expected to be a very close, very high scoring game. There are fantasy options on both teams and this is one of the better games to target tonight. The Pistons have been one of the worst teams at defending Centers this season so look for Nikola Pekovic to post some solid numbers down low. Kevin Martin is also in play, but he is a site specific play as his price varies drastically across the sites.
- Kevin Love – Love is back in the lineup and should get right back to posting monster double-doubles. He is matchup proof and should have no problem padding those stats tonight against the Pistons. Monroe isn’t used to defending on the perimeter so look for them to use Love in a lot of pick and pop situations tonight. I’m predicting a 25 point, 15 rebound performance.
- Ricky Rubio – Rubio is pretty cheap across the board tonight and I haven’t heard much talk about him. I like the matchup against the turnover prone Jennings and I think that Rubio will easily top 25 FP’s. I think 25 is his floor and he has the potential to score a lot more.
Detroit
The Pistons have a nice matchup tonight against the uptempo Wolves. This is expected to be a high scoring game. The Wolves have not defended any position well this season and have actually been one of the league’s worst defenses. All positions from the Pistons are in play today. Josh Smith is one of my favorite GPP plays tonight, he has great upside in this matchup. I also like Greg Monroe, but think that Love will outplay him.
- Brandon Jennings – Jennings has one of my favorite matchups tonight. Rubio has never been known for his defense and Jennings has been playing well lately. He’s right in that middle tier of players, but has the upside of a top tier player.
- Andre Drummond – Drummond is still affordable on most sites and has been posting some monster stat lines lately. He’s topped 40 fantasy points in three of his last five games and has a pretty good matchup against Pek and the Wolves.
Milwaukee at Chicago
- Vegas Line – No Lines Set for This Game Yet
- Milwaukee Proj. Starters – Knight-Mayo-Middleton-Ilyasova-Henson
- Chicago Proj. Starters – Hinrich-Dunleavy-Deng-Boozer-Noah
Milwaukee
The Bucks travel to Chicago to take on the short handed Bulls. The Bucks will be without Zaza Pachulia and Caron Butler once again tonight, so continue to play John Henson and Khris Middleton as solid value plays. While the Bulls have a solid defense, you can also make the case for Brandon Knight in this one, he can fill up the stat sheet. All three of these players are in play, but only if the price is right.
Chicago
There are a lot of options on the Bulls tonight. They will be without both Luol Deng and Jimmy Butler in this one. Last game, Taj Gibson started at SF with Deng out, but that may have been to match up with the bigs of the Pistons. Check closer to tip-off to see who will get the start. If Gibson does start, he makes a great play, he is still pretty cheap on most sites and has great upside. I also like the combo of Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah against the under-sized bigs of the Bucks.
- Kirk Hinrich – Hinrich is one of my favorite value plays on the board tonight. People will probably overlook him because he had a bad game the last time out, but he has been consistently posting 25+ fantasy points as a starter. With Deng out, Hinrich will likely top 35 minutes as long as this one stays close.
Phoenix at L.A.Lakers
- Vegas Line – L.A.Lakers -3, 206 Over/Under
- Phoenix Proj. Starters – Bledsoe-Dragic-Tucker-Frye-Plumlee
- L.A.Lakers Proj. Starters – Blake-Bryant-Johnson-Hill-Gasol
Phoenix
This game has the highest total of the night. Vegas expects this game to be close too which is always promising. The Suns have a fantastic matchup against the Lakers tonight who have one of the worst defenses in the league. The Lakers are ranked in the bottom 4 against every position except for SF. That’s just awful. Channing Frye and Miles Plumlee both make interesting plays and Goran Dragic has a fantastic matchup, but my favorite play here is Eric Bledsoe.
- Eric Bledsoe – This pick is a bit risky because he is recently coming back from an injury, but he’s posted over 25 FP’s in back to back games and has a terrific matchup against Kobe Bryant who looked very slow in his first game back. Bledsoe should be able to blow by Kobe and he is one of my favorite plays of the night.
L.A.Lakers
The Lakers are also in a good spot. It’s way too early to take Kobe Bryant though, it is going to take some time for him to get his legs back underneath him and for him to get his confidence back. Pau Gasol is dealing with an injury which is important to note. While he isn’t expected to miss the game, it did limit him in their last game so I may suggest avoiding him tonight as well. If we rule out Kobe and Pau, that really doesn’t leave us with many other options. Steve Blake should bounce back nicely, but there are better options in his price range and none of the Lakers bench players stick out to me as solid plays.