NBA Grind Down: Tuesday, January 7th - Page 3
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Oklahoma City at Utah
- Vegas Line – Oklahoma City -6.5, 195.5 Over/Under
- Oklahoma City Proj. Starters – Jackson-Sefolosha-Durant-Ibaka-Perkins
- Utah Proj. Starters – Burke-Hayward-Jefferson-Williams-Favors
Oklahoma City
The Thunder travel to Utah to take on the Jazz in what is expected to be a closer game that you might imagine. The Jazz play good basketball at home and Vegas is expecting them to keep it competitive tonight. The Jazz rank have struggled to defend 3 positions this season: PG’s, SF’s, and Centers. I don’t love the upside the Kendrick Perkins gives you, but I do like both Kevin Durant and Reggie Jackson here.
- Kevin Durant – Durant is basically matchup-proof, but it never hurts his value when he has a favorable matchup. The Jazz are ranked 27th against SF’s on the season and Durant has had an incredible streak of games over the last couple of weeks. Treat him as the top overall fantasy option tonight.
- Reggie Jackson – Jackson hasn’t been as good as many have hoped, but I think he will get better with more starts under his belt. His price has come down across the board and he makes a nice play tonight against the Jazz who are ranked 23rd against PG’s over the last 15 days.
Utah
The Jazz are facing a Thunder team that has really turned it up defensively over the last two weeks. A large part of this has to do with the fact that Westbrook isn’t in the lineup pushing the pace and it also has to do with the fact that Jackson is a much better on ball defender than Westbrook is. I will be avoiding Derrick Favors tonight, the Thunder have been one of the top teams against Centers all season long. I like Gordon Hayward as a GPP play thanks to his high upside.
- Trey Burke – Burke has really played well at home this season and has a decent matchup tonight against the Thunder. He is averaging over 25 FP’s per game at home and he should be able to hit that mark tonight.
Portland at Sacramento
- Vegas Line – Portland -4.5, 216.5 Over/Under
- Portland Proj. Starters – Lillard-Matthews-Batum-Aldridge-Lopez
- Sacramento Proj. Starters – Thomas-McLemore-Gay-Thompson-Cousins
Portland
The final game of the night features two fast-paced offenses. This game has the highest total of the night and is a great game to target. The Kings DvP rankings are below average against every position and they have really struggled to defend the PG and SF positions. Lillard makes the most sense here, but you can never rule out LaMarcus Aldridge or Nicolas Batum. They both have great upside against this bad Kings defense.
- Damian Lillard – Lillard has a favorable matchup against Thomas and he should be able to push the tempo and create some easy buckets both for himself and his teammates. Lillard has a high floor and a nice upside with this matchup.
Sacramento
The Kings are also in a nice spot tonight. They are expected to be one of the highest scoring teams of the night. The three options with the Kings are always the same: Isaiah Thomas, Rudy Gay, and DeMarcus Cousins. I love the matchup for both Thomas and Cousins, but Gay will be locked up with Nicolas Batum who is one of the better defenders in the game.