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NBA Grind Down: Wednesday, April 2nd

by Ethan Haskell (Ethan) Last Updated 2014-04-02 21:25:55

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 NBA 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

Detroit at Indiana

Detroit

The Pistons get to face the staunch defense of Indiana tonight, and the only real positive on their defense vs. position matchup chart goes for Brandon Jennings. IND ranks 20th against the PG position over the last 15 days and Jennings has had moderate success against the Pacers so far this season. He’s averaged 15 points, 8.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds in 3 matchups with the Pacers. It will be tough to trust any of the Pistons tonight though, given that they have to play at Indiana and are 10 point dogs in a game with a low over/under.

Indiana

The last time these teams met, the game went to double OT at the Palace. I don’t expect the Pacers to take Detroit as lightly on their home court, and the blowout potential is definitely strong here. Both teams are relatively healthy, but it should be interesting to see whether or not the Pacers heed the advice of Roy Hibbert in a recent interview where he pretty much said both himself and David West aren’t getting enough touches. In the first game after that, Hibbert took 13 shots and posted 15 points with 7 rebounds so that is definitely something to watch for.

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Brooklyn at New York

Brooklyn

The Nets head across town to take on the Knicks in what should be an interesting game on National TV tonight. The Nets are playing some of their best basketball of the season, behind a rejuvenated Paul Pierce who has 30 or more fantasy points in 3 of his last 5 games. I like that the spread is close here, since that could lead to big minutes being played by the premiere options but it’s hard to trust too many people in a Nets rotation that plays a lot of guys even minutes.

New York

The Knicks and Nets might seem like a potential drag-it-out boring battle but Brooklyn is actually allowing over 100 PPG over their last 10 and the Knicks are slightly favored at home in Vegas. New York is in desperate need of a win, sitting at 2 games back of ATL in the loss column for 8th place in the East. Carmelo usually brings his A game when the lights are brightest, but it’s JR Smith who has the best matchup tonight with the Nets at 23rd against SGs over the last 15 days.

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Cleveland at Orlando

Cleveland

The big question mark here is Irving, whose status could be determined by the time I’m even done writing this article but definitely keep an eye out for that news. A potential Kyrie return to the lineup would most likely move Jarrett Jack to the bench and keep Waiters in the starting 5, although the Irving/Waiters have not always fared well together on the court. Regardless, the spread on this game is pretty tight at 2 points, so I think this could be a nice place to find some targets. With Varejao unlikely to play tonight, look for Hawes and Thompson to get a few added minutes each with Tyler Zeller getting added burn off the bench.

Orlando

With the Magic being relatively healthy, it’s really difficult to trust any of their guards too much. That’s too bad because the matchup is great here, and gets even better if Irving returns for Cleveland. A starting backcourt of Irving and Waiters would be an opposing guards dream come true. As it stands the Cavs rank 23rd, 24th and 28th against PGs, SGs and SFs respectively over the last 15 days so most of the Magic backcourt players should be able to find some breathing room, but none play enough time to draw my interest. In terms of minutes, the Magic have been letting Moe Harkless, Arron Afflalo and Nikola Vucevic play between 33 and 38 minutes per game while Oladipo, Nelson and Harris look like solid bets for 25-30ish minutes.

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Charlotte at Philadelphia

Charlotte

Well the first thing anyone sees is that it’s against the 76ers, which is more than a good reason to get excited about the Bobcats tonight. But these two teams actually play shockingly different paces of play, with Charlotte averaging a pace under 95 and Philly leading the NBA at over 101 possessions per game. It will be interesting to see whose style wins out, but the 203 line set in Vegas is surprisingly low for a typical 76ers contest so it would appear that they’re favoring Charlotte to establish their pace of play tonight. Regardless, the Sixers will push and that should lead to increased output from all of the Bobcats tonight.

Philadelphia

I was all excited to start rolling out MCW down the stretch consistently because the Sixers seem willing to let him run wild, but then he had to come out and admit that he’s “exhausted” on Tuesday. That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence and while it’s just a quote, it’s probably enough to steer me away from him tonight in anything other than a GPP. Beyond the ROY, Thaddeus Young has been turning it on again of late, with 47 and 38 FPs over his last two contests. The other story line in Philly has been the emergence of Henry Sims as a beast down low since being given the starter’s share of the minutes.

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Houston at Toronto

Houston

I’m guessing D12 doesn’t dress tonight, which means the mammoth that is Omer Asik can be deployed again with confidence. This matchup, much like the last, pits two teams with different pace philosophies. The Rockets want to run a little more, especially with Howard out and that is going to be tough against a Toronto team allowing the 5th fewest fast break points per game this season. I think this most hurts James Harden, who has been on an absolute bender of late. It should also slow Jeremy Lin a bit.

Toronto

With Lowry doubtful to play on Wednesday, the Raptors lineup is definitely going to need to step up to fill the missing production. The biggest and most obvious candidate will be Greivis Vasquez, who has been stellar at times in limited minutes off the bench and has a juicy matchup against Jeremy Lin. It’s always worth noting that the Rockets without Beverley are a far worse defensive team and PGs can exploit that most specifically. This game also has a nice 204 O/U with a 1 point spread, so rolling a number of players from these two teams should be a solid strategy.

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NBA Grind Down Page 1 – Page 2

About the Author

Ethan
Ethan Haskell (Ethan)