NBA Matchup Breakdown: Sunday 2/10

by Ethan Haskell (Ethan) Last Updated 2013-02-10 05:22:56

Welcome to the first official NBA Match-Up Breakdown article. We’re going to run this article on the busier days of NBA action. Inside you’ll find team defensive rankings against each position as well as some studs, sleepers and fades for today’s games. While our NBA daily plays column is a much more in-depth breakdown of today’s contests, this article will serve as your home for quick NBA information.

Clippers vs. Knicks

• Clippers are deeply hobbled and even with Paul and Griffin playing, they don’t look healthy so don’t read too much into their defensive stats here.

Lakers vs. Heat

• The Lakers are god awful defensively and any of the Heat’s Big-Three are great plays.
• While the Heat rank in the top-10 against PFs, they are still susceptible inside and Earl Clark should not be forgotten just because of the tough matchup rating.

Nuggets vs. Celtics

• The Celtics rank 18th and 19th against PFs and C’s respectively and KG struggles most against young, athletic bigs. Kenneth Faried could be poised for a monster rebounding total.
• Flip the coin and KG is a great option inside against Denver’s 30th ranked D vs. Centers.

Trailblazers vs. Magic

• Damian Lillard, LaMarcus Aldridge and J.J. Hickson are all great plays Sunday.
• Nicolas Batum broke out in the 2nd half on Friday finally, but draws a tough match-up against Arron Afflalo Sunday.

Hornets vs. Raptors

• Red hot Rudy Gay against the league’s 2nd worst D vs. SFs is a prime-time selection.
• The Raptors are bottom-10 against Power Forwards and Centers but the Hornets PF and C rotation right now kills a lot of their daily fantasy value.

Timberwolves vs. Grizzlies

• The Grizzlies might be pound-for-pound the best defensive team in the NBA.
• While a matchup against the league’s worst defense vs. PFs is tasty, don’t forget that Zach Randolph has struggled a bit of late. He’s only gone over 35 FP once in his last 10 games and in that one he only hit 36 FP.

Spurs vs. Nets

• The Spurs define team defense and play a huge rotation, so don’t look too deeply into their defense vs. position stats.
• While the Nets are 7th against opposing Centers, Brook Lopez still has trouble on the defensive glass at times. Tiago Splitter could have a nice game.

Thunder vs. Suns

• Oklahoma City is top-10 vs. SFs but Michael Beasley hung 29 points on them when these teams met on Friday.
• The Suns bottom-10 interior defense yielded a ridiculous 39 FP to Kendrick Perkins Friday.

Rockets vs. Kings

• No real effort to play defense on either side here, look for a high-scoring affair.
• James Harden is red-hot right now and with another great matchup Sunday, he should be viewed as a top-3 option of ALL players available.