NBA Grind Down: Wednesday, December 11th - Page 2
All stat chart buttons below open in an in-screen popup window and include stat tables for all games on the given page of the Grind Down Article
Detroit at New Orleans
- Vegas Line – No Lines Set for This Game Yet
- Detroit Proj. Starters – Jennings-Stuckey-Smith-Monroe-Drummond
- New Orleans Proj. Starters – Holiday-Gordon-Aminu-Anderson-Smith
Detroit
The Pistons and Pelicans have a high total set for this one. The Pelicans are only 3 points favorites and the over/under is set at 203 points. Both are promising for the fantasy options in this game. The Pelicans have not defended any position well, so this one is going to come down to value.
Andre Drummond is in play on a few sites and overpriced on a couple of others. He has a great matchup, but is a site specific play. Josh Smith continues to make a great GPP play, but is too risky to use in cash games. Greg Monroe should be able to dominate Ryan Anderson in the post, but his rebounds are down thanks to his front-court teammates.
- Brandon Jennings – For the reasons mentioned above, Jennings is the only player that I am targeting in my cash games. He has been playing well and finally has some confidence in his shot. He has great upside and the Pelicans have not defended PG’s well this season.
New Orleans
The Pelicans will be without Anthony Davis again so continue to use Ryan Anderson and Jason Smith if their prices are affordable. Both of their prices have come up across the board, but I expect Anderson to reach 30 FP’s and Smith to reach 25 FP’s. If their prices are low enough, don’t be afraid to use either of them. That said, I really like the backcourt combo for the Pelicans tonight.
- Jrue Holiday – Jrue has really stepped up his game lately. He has scored over 37 fantasy points in four of his last five games which is extremely good considering he is still priced in that mid to upper tier. Jennings is not a great defender and Holiday should fill up the stat sheet again tonight.
- Eric Gordon – Caldwell-Pops is a solid defender, but he’s seeing less minutes now that Billups is back. Gordon should have no problem scoring tonight against this defense. He is one of the safer options at SG tonight for cash games.
Chicago at New York
- Vegas Line – No Lines Set for This Game Yet
- Chicago Proj. Starters – Hinrich-Dunleavy-Gibson-Boozer-Noah
- New York Proj. Starters – Felton-Shumpert-Anthony-Bargnani-Martin
Chicago
The Bulls are a mess right now, they are having trouble dressing 8 players each night. Rose, Deng, Butler, and Noah have all been injured this season and the Bulls could be without all of them tonight. There hasn’t been an update on the availability for Deng and Butler, but they are questionable at best after missing last night’s game. For our purposes, I am going to assume that they are both out tonight.
- Carlos Boozer – The entire Bulls team may be in play tonight if Deng and Noah are out. Boozer is my favorite play here, but I don’t mind the entire Bulls roster to be honest. There are going to be big minutes for everyone. Boozer should post similar numbers to the ones he put up last night.
- Taj Gibson – Gibson has been playing at an extremely high level and gets a huge bump if Noah is out again tonight. While he didn’t play great last night, Henson’s length really bothered him. The Knicks don’t have that type of length at all.
- Mike Dunleavy – It looks like Dunleavy has finally found his shot. He should see around 25 minutes if Deng plays and over 35 if Deng sits. Adjust your value for him accordingly once you get an update on Deng. Dunleavy played great last night and has the green light when he’s on the floor.
New York
The Knicks are just playing with their fan’s emotions. After huge wins against the Nets and Magic, the Knicks have lost back to back games against the Celtics and Cavs. They are favored in this one, but don’t put it past the Knicks to lose to an extremely short handed Bulls team. I don’t love the matchup for anyone on the Knicks, the Bulls like to slow the pace down and this is expected to be low scoring. Carmelo Anthony has been on fire, but is priced too high for me. I’d rather pay a little extra and take Kevin Love.
Utah at Sacramento
- Vegas Line – Sacramento -7, 199.5 Over/Under
- Utah Proj. Starters – Burke-Hayward-Jefferson-Favors-Kanter
- Sacramento Proj. Starters – Thomas-McLemore-Gay-Williams-Cousins
Utah
The fantasy options on the Jazz really depend on the availability of both Marvin Williams and Derrick Favors. Both of these guys sat out last game and if they sit out again tonight, bump up both Enes Kanter and Jeremy Evans. If only one of them are out, just give the bump to Kanter. If they both play, then avoid all of the Jazz big men altogether. Either way, there are two Jazz players that catch my eye:
- Trey Burke – His price varies across the board, but he makes a great play on the sites that have been slow to adjust his price. He has been averaging well over 25 FP’s per game over his last six and has a nice matchup against the smaller Thomas.
- Gordon Hayward – Hayward is in the same boat as Ibaka tonight. They are my two favorite under the radar plays. Hayward has played well against the Kings in the past and scored 36 fantasy points against them the other night.
Sacramento
The Kings have a nice matchup against the Jazz tonight and it will likely be the debut of Rudy Gay in a Kings’ uniform. I’m not sure what we can expect from either Gay or the Kings. I definitely think that you should wait a game or two before taking Gay in any of your lineups though, it never hurts to take a wait and see approach.
- DeMarcus Cousins – Cousins new mature attitude seems to be paying off. He has been one of the top overall fantasy options over the last two weeks and could have a monster game against the Jazz tonight who are running short of big men.
- Isaiah Thomas – Thomas’ price took a big spike upwards after his game the other night. Now that he is the starter, I think we can expect him to average around 30 fantasy points per game going forward. Even though his price is rising, I think he is still in play.
Dallas at Golden State
- Vegas Line – Golden State -5.5, 209 Over/Under
- Dallas Proj. Starters – Calderon-Ellis-Marion-Nowitzki-Dalembert
- Golden State Proj. Starters – Curry-Thompson-Barnes-Lee-Bogut
Dallas
This game has the second highest total of the night. Both teams are expected to put up a lot of points in this one. The Warriors have defended SG’s and SF’s well, but don’t rule out Monta Ellis as a solid play tonight. He is going to be pumped up to face his former team and he is at his best when he is in the open floor. This type of game fits his style of play perfectly.
- Dirk Nowitzki – Dirk has priced himself out on a couple of sites like DraftStreet, but is in play on most sites. He has a fantastic matchup against the Warriors tonight. Dirk has turned back the clock and is playing like the Dirk from a few years ago.
Golden State
The Warriors have a fantastic matchup tonight. The Mavericks have not defended any position well this season and all five starters are in play here depending on their salaries. Stephen Curry is expensive, but I like the matchup and the upside. David Lee and Andre Bogut both make great cash game plays. They should both cover their value pretty easily in this matchup. The wings also look like good plays. They have both been playing over 35 minutes per night. Klay Thompson has the better upside, but Harrison Barnes has the better value. All of these plays are site specific so if you like the salaries on the site that you play on, don’t hesitate to take a couple of Warriors tonight.