NBA Preseason Primer: Saturday, October 6th

by Allan Lem (fathalpert) Last Updated 2018-10-06 22:47:21 Premium Content Part of the product SimLabs+

Hello Grinders. Before we break down the slate, be sure to leverage the projections in LineupHQ and discussions in the RotoGrinders Discord chat. If you’re interested in learning more about what’s available or want to sign up, you can find information here.

Let me start off by saying this slate could have a lot of landmines, so it might make sense to go light. The Clippers say they might rest a veteran, but we have no idea who that is. The Grizzlies are playing the backend of a back-to-back, so I suspect the minutes for them will be a little funky. The Pacers strangely played just 10 guys in their opener – do they do the same but change up which 10 guys play? Preseason NBA is really reliant on information and beat reports, but we don’t have some of the information we’d ideally like. You may have to take some stands and just take some chances today, knowing there’s uncertainty ahead.

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Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavaliers

Boston Celtics

The Celtics are playing their preseason finale today and there will be no Gordon Hayward or Kyrie Irving per this tweet. The last time Kyrie sat, Terry Rozier was chalk and laid a dud, playing 20 minutes and finishing with just six points. I was curious what the Celtics did in last year’s finale to see if it may give us some insight into how Coach Stevens handles preseason finales but it wasn’t helpful. In that game, both Kyrie and Gordon played 27 and 30 minutes, respectively, while Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum each played 23 minutes and Al Horford played 27 minutes. He used about a 10-man bench and the normal reserves like Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier saw about 20 minutes. I’m not confident in how the Celtics are planning for this game but until I hear otherwise, I’m just going to guess the starters see minutes in the low 20s, making them viable on this slate.