NBA Grind Down: Wednesday, October 30th
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
Brooklyn at Cleveland
| Brooklyn | Cleveland | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Pts | 195.5 |  | Vegas | 195.5 | |||||||
| Spread | -3.5 | Spread | 3.5 | |||||||||
| Pace | 91.23 | Pace | 94.95 | |||||||||
| Opponent Defense vs. Position | Opponent Defense vs. Position | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 28 | 21 | 26 | 26 | 14 | Season | 12 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 13 | |
| Last10 | 19 | 15 | 20 | 21 | 12 | Last10 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 19 | |
| Williams-Johnson-Pierce-Garnett-Lopez | Irving-Waiters-Clark-Thompson-Varejao | |||||||||||
Brooklyn
The Nets have had quite the overhaul of their roster. They’ve added two future hall of famers in Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, one sharpshooter in Jason Terry, and one great all around player in Andrei Kirilenko. I can’t wait to see how this team performs early on in the season because on paper, they have the talent to at least compete with Miami. They should be a very good defensive team, but will likely be one of the slowest paced teams in the league which is never good from a fantasy perspective. The other thing to worry about with the Nets is having all of these stars defer to each other to open the season. None of the players are going to want to come out firing so they are looking like an easy fade for the first couple of weeks.
Players to Target
- *Deron Williams – D-Will is the one exception that I would take with the Nets. He will be the leader of this offense and be responsible for the play calling. Look for D-Will to establish himself as one of the league leaders in assists early on this season. I love the matchup for him tonight against Kyrie Irving. Last season, the Cavs were one of the worst teams in the league against opposing PG’s and I expect that to continue this season. Kyrie is a great offensive player, but his defense is very average. I think D-Will has a great chance for a double-double tonight.
Cleveland
The Cavs added some nice pieces to their roster this season. They brought in Jarrett Jack who should really help take the load off of Kyrie and I expect that we will see them in the lineup together quite a bit throughout the season. They also brought in Earl Clark who will be starting at SF, he is a player that just hasn’t been able to live up to expectations, but he’ll be a nice fit for the Cavs. Last but not least, they brought in Andrew Bynum, once he gets healthy the Cavs are going to have a scary frontcourt of Varejao, Bynum, Thompson, and Zeller.
Tonight’s matchup against the Nets is an extremely tough one. The Nets were one of the best defenses in the league last season and now added anchor Kevin Garnett and a great perimeter defensder in Andrei Kirilenko. I expect this game to be very low scoring without a lot of fantasy appeal.
Players to Target
- *Kyrie Irving – Both PG’s in this game are arguably the best offensive players on their team, but they are also both arguably the worst defenders on their team. I think Kyrie will be fired up tonight and will look to build on his incredible season last year. He has more weapons at his disposal now and I expect him to be the high scorer in tonight’s game. One note that I’d like to mention is to be careful taking him on sites that negate for missed shots, I think Irving will get his, but it will take him quite a few shots.
Miami at Philadelphia
| Miami | Philadelphia | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Pts | 195.5 |  | Vegas | 195.5 | |||||||
| Spread | -11.0 | Spread | 11.0 | |||||||||
| Pace | 92.97 | Pace | 93.31 | |||||||||
| Opponent Defense vs. Position | Opponent Defense vs. Position | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 21 | 6 | 16 | 13 | 23 | Season | 1 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 7 | |
| Last10 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 30 | 2 | Last10 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 6 | 22 | |
| Chalmers-Wade-James-Battier-Bosh | Carter-Williams-Anderson-Turner-Young-Hawes | |||||||||||
Miami
We broke down Miami’s new additions in yesterday’s Grind Down, but basically all you needed to know was that they were returning almost the exact same roster as the Championship team last season. The Heat came out firing last night and Lebron James and Dwyane Wade really took a backseat and let the role players pad their stats. I think tonight should be a different story. Not only do role players play different on the road, but the team won’t have nearly as much energy as they did last night. The Sixers are not a great team, but they have their season opener at home. I see this as a letdown game for the Heat. That’s good news for Lebron James and Dwyane Wade though because they don’t have letdown games.
Players to Target
- *Lebron James – It’s pretty incredible that Lebron basically coasted through last night’s game and still ended up with over 30 fantasy points. Half the time he was just sitting in corner on offense. Like I mentioned above, I expect this game to be much closer and for Lebron to have a much bigger role. He will be matched up with Evan Turner tonight who is a pretty solid defender. The problem for Turner is that Lebron is bigger and faster than he is and Lebron is as close of a player as their is to being matchup proof.
- *Dwyane Wade – I wouldn’t recommend taking both Wade and Lebron in tonight’s game, but I think there is a case to be made for taking either one or the other. Wade looked good in the opener last night and really didn’t take over until the 4th quarter. With Jason Richardson out for the Sixers, Wade will be matched up with James Anderson. A matchup that I’m confident Spoelstra will exploit.
Philadelphia
The Sixers have one of the worst rosters in the NBA. While that doesn’t always translate to being a bad team, it’s hard to see this team making any kind of push for the playoffs. They lost Jrue Holiday to the Hornets in the offseason, but did get the impressive young Michael Carter-Williams out of Syracuse. They are going to throw Williams into the fire and have him start right from opening night.
I don’t love the matchup for the Sixers, but I do think that this game will be closer than most people would expect. The Heat have one of the best defenses in the league and I think they will really frustrate Williams in his first NBA game. The one spot that the Heat looked weak defensively against last night was down low, so if you are going to target any Sixers, target the big men.
Players to Target
- *Thaddeus Young – With Jrue gone, Young may be the focal point of this offense. Carlos Boozer found some success down low against this Heat team last night and I think that Young should be able to do the same. Young is coming off a career best average of 15 points and 7 rebounds last season and should get off to a nice start tonight. I think I will be avoiding the rest of the Sixers though unless there is great value on a specific site.
Boston at Toronto
| Boston | Toronto | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Pts | 189.5 |  | Vegas | 189.5 | |||||||
| Spread | 8.5 | Spread | -8.5 | |||||||||
| Pace | 93.98 | Pace | 92.94 | |||||||||
| Opponent Defense vs. Position | Opponent Defense vs. Position | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 9 | 25 | 2 | 18 | 16 | Season | 8 | 5 | 17 | 19 | 15 | |
| Last10 | 14 | 12 | 6 | 11 | 15 | Last10 | 21 | 2 | 11 | 17 | 6 | |
| Bradley-Green-Wallace-Bass-Faverani | Lowry-DeRozan-Gay-Johnson-Valanciunas | |||||||||||
Boston
All right, when I said that the Sixers have one of the worst rosters in the NBA, I didn’t mean to offend the Celtics. After losing KG, Pierce, and Terry, the Celtics basically have Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green. Two very good pieces, but not enough to contend in the East. Not only that, but Rondo will not be back for a while so the Celtics will be starting Bradley, Green, Wallace, Bass, and Faverani. This will likely be a very long season for the C’s.
The matchup against the Raptors isn’t a terrible one, but ever since the Raptors acquired Rudy Gay they became a much better defensive team. The Raptors were excellent at defending the 1 and 2 guard positions last season.
Players to Target
- *Jeff Green – Green is capable of big things and he is by far their best offensive player that they will have on the court tonight. We all remember the type of numbers that Green put up last season when KG and Pierce were resting toward the end of the season. He fills the stat sheet and can put up points in a hurry. My guess is that the Raptors will stick Rudy Gay on him from the beginning, but if he can get matched up with Derozan instead, that would really increase his fantasy appeal.
Toronto
The Raptors had a fairly quiet offseason. They added both D.J. Augustin and Tyler Hansbrough, but neither will receive major minutes in the rotation. The starting five of Lowry, Derozan, Gay, Johnson, and Valanciunas is a pretty decent starting five, but I do worry about the number of shots to go around. The Raptors open up their season against the Celtics at home and I think this is a great game to target a few players. The Celtics defense is likely going to be a mess as they really haven’t had much time to play together or learn the system. I expect the Celtics to drop down to the bottom third of the defensive rankings this year.
Players to Target
- *Rudy Gay – Gay is the #1 scoring option in this offense and he is their best defender on the other end of the floor. I like taking Gay because he can fill up the stat sheet. He is a good scorer and rebounder and can get you a few blocks or steals on any given night. I like the matchup against this young Celtics team even though both Wallace and Green are pretty solid one on one defenders.
- *Jonas Valanciunas – Big Val looks to build on his pretty impressive rookie season. If you look at his averages from last year, they really don’t tell the whole story because toward the end of the year when he was getting the minutes, he was averaging over 10 points a game with around 8 rebounds. I love the matchup for him tonight against Faverani, I think he will be a bit overwhelmed in his first game and I could see Val getting him into foul trouble.
Washington at Detroit
| Washington | Detroit | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Pts | 190.5 |  | Vegas | 190.5 | |||||||
| Spread | 3.5 | Spread | -3.5 | |||||||||
| Pace | 94.41 | Pace | 93.21 | |||||||||
| Opponent Defense vs. Position | Opponent Defense vs. Position | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 16 | 21 | 20 | 14 | 25 | Season | 14 | 11 | 11 | 15 | 10 | |
| Last10 | 15 | 4 | 15 | 27 | 7 | Last10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 26 | 9 | |
| Wall-Beal-Ariza-Hilario-Gortat | Billups-Caldwell-Pope-Smith-Monroe-Drummond | |||||||||||
Washington
The Wizards made a big trade to bring Marcin Gortat over from the Suns. While I do think he is a nice addition, I’m not sure that he is going to be the difference maker that this team needs. They have a nice young core of Wall, Beal, and Ariza, but they are still a couple of pieces away from really being a contender. Do I think they could sneak into the playoffs in the East? Yes, but a lot of things would have to go right and the health of Nene Hilario would be one of them.
The Wizards open their season by traveling to Detroit to take on the new look Pistons. The Pistons were pretty average against all positions last year, but I do want to note that their interior defense is going to be very tough this season with Smith, Monroe, and Drummond manning the middle.
Players to Target
- *John Wall – I think that Wall and Beal are really the only options that you want to consider tonight for the Wizards. Nothing against Ariza, Nene, and Gortat, but there isn’t going to be much room to score inside tonight with those 3 bigs from the Pistons clogging the lane. I really like the matchup for Wall though. He ended the season red hot and will be matched up against rookie Peyton Siva as Brandon Jennings is out for the first few games with a jaw injury. Expect Wall to push the pace and to create some turnovers from the young rookie.
Detroit
The Pistons look like a playoff team for the first time in a very long time. Their starting five of Jennings, Stuckey, Smith, Monroe, and Drummond makes me believe that they are capable of not only making the playoffs, but possibly pushing for a 6 seed. I can’t wait to see the young bigs of Monroe and Drummond develop together and really hope that they will complement each other.
The matchup tonight against the Wizards is a bit misleading. On paper, you can see that the Wizards were pretty average on defense last season, but if you dive a bit further into the numbers, the Wizards were actually ranked in the top 10 against every position over the last couple months of the season. If I’m targeting anyone from the Pistons, it’s going to be one of the bigs.
Players to Target
- *Greg Monroe – I give a slight edge to Monroe over Drummond because I like his matchup against Nene better than I do Drummond’s matchup against Gortat. That said, I think they are both solid options tonight and I would probably recommend taking the cheaper of the two. Monroe had a nice season last year and the addition of Drummond should help him avoid getting double teamed.
Milwaukee at New York
| Milwaukee | New York | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Pts | 196.5 |  | Vegas | 196.5 | |||||||
| Spread | 8.0 | Spread | -8.0 | |||||||||
| Pace | 97.32 | Pace | 92.03 | |||||||||
| Opponent Defense vs. Position | Opponent Defense vs. Position | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | DvP Rks | PG | SG | SF | PF | C | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | Season | 10 | 15 | 22 | 16 | 30 | |
| Last10 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 2 | 17 | Last10 | 6 | 17 | 30 | 7 | 28 | |
| Knight-Mayo-Butler-Ilyasova-Sanders | Felton-Shumpert-World Peace-Anthony-Chandler | |||||||||||
Milwaukee
The Bucks teams looks completely different than it did last season. Instead of having Ellis and Jennings in the backcourt, they now have Brandon Knight and O.J. Mayo. They also have Caron Butler starting at SF this season, but they do have the same two big men in Ersan Ilyasova and Larry Sanders. I’m not quite sure what to think of this team yet, so for that reason I will likely take a wait and see approach. The Knicks were one of the better defensive teams in the league last season and will have their home opener tonight in Madison Square Garden. This game has the feeling of a blowout to me so I’m going to take my chances and avoid the Bucks tonight.
New York
The Knicks didn’t make any huge splashes in the offseason, but they did add both Andrea Bargnani and Metta World Peace who will both likely be a large part of the rotation. The Knicks have a nice matchup to open their season as the Bucks were one of the worst defenses in baskeball last year. You can throw out the DvP positions for PG, SG, and SF since there are new players on the Bucks in those positions, but the PF and C numbers should still apply.
Players to Target
- *Carmelo Anthony – I was tempted to put Raymond Felton here because I am a little weary of a blowout, but Brandon Knight is an excellent on ball defender so I wouldn’t go the route of Felton tonight. Carmelo will look to get his season off on the right foot and I just don’t see Butler being able to stay in front of him. While he used to be a solid defender, he is playing on old legs.
- *Iman Shumper – This will be his second season back from knee surgery and most doctors say that you aren’t fully recovered from the injury until 2 years after. I’m expecting Shumpert to make a big jump this season and that starts with tonight’s matchup against the Bucks. He is a very athletic SG that can fill up all areas of the stat sheet.