Fantasy Basketball Daily Pre-Game Report for Friday, January 6th
Jan 6, 2012 Blog
Friday Night Fantasy Basketball Tournament Schedule:
All Tournaments start at 7:00 PM EST Tonight.
Fanduel $2000 NBA Shot – $2 Entry, Top 120 Teams Paid
Fanduel $2500 NBA Assist – $5 Entry, Top 60 Teams Paid
Fanduel $7500 NBA Slam – $25 Entry, Top 36 Teams Paid
Fanduel Two Player Head to Head Matches – $1 to $535 Entry
DraftStreet $1000 Tournament – $5 Entry, Top 18 Teams Paid
DraftStreet $1500 Tournament – $11 Entry, Top 15 Teams Paid
DraftStreet $4000 Tournament – $55 Entry, Top 9 Teams Paid
DraftStreet $6000 Tournament – $215 Entry, Top 5 Teams Paid
Daily Joust $100 Freeroll Tournament – Free Entry
Daily Joust $1000 King James – $10 Entry, Top 15 Teams Paid
Friday’s NBA Schedule, Starting Lineups, Injury News and Fantasy Picks
(Remember to check the Twitter Feed on the right side of the Homepage for player news as tipoff approaches)
New Jersey @ Toronto (-6.5) 181.5 Total
NJN: D. Williams, A. Morrow, S. Williams, K. Humphries, M. Okur
TOR: J. Calderon, D. DeRozan, (J. Johnson/R. Butler), A. Bargnani, A. Johnson
Game Preview from RaptorsHQ
Game Preview from Raptors Republic
The Nets roster is a complete fantasy mess right now, so I’d probably avoid everyone. However, if you are going to play be sure to check player status reports right up to gametime.
Deron Williams expects to play and could have a good night against the weak defense of Jose Calderon.
Kris Humphries expects to play and could do some rebounding damage against the soft rebounding pair of Andrea Bargnani and Amir Johnson.
Damion James will likely miss this one, which could give DeShawn Stevenson a start. Shawne Williams will also get mintutes at SF.
MarShon Brooks is questionable with a foot injury.
Detroit @ Philadelphia (-10) 185 Total
DET: (R. Stuckey/B. Knight), B. Gordon, T. Prince, J. Jerebko, G. Monroe
PHI: J. Holiday, (E. Turner/J. Meeks), A. Iguodala, E. Brand, S. Hawes
Rodney Stuckey is dealing with a sore groin and is out tonight. Brandon Knight will get the start with Will Bynum backing him up.
J. Holiday finally got his season going with a good showing in his last game and he could be in for a advantageous matchup against the rookie, Brandon Knight.
Ben Gordon is out tonight with a personal issue. Austin Daye will get the start at SG.
New York (-6) @ Washington 200.5 Total
NYK: T. Douglas, Morrow, C. Anthony, A. Stoudemire, T. Chandler
WAS: J. Wall, N. Young/J. Crawford, R. Lewis, A. Blatche, J. McGee
Iman Shumpert won’t start tonight, but will probably still get decent minutes, check it closer to gametime.
This is a tough matchup for Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee and it might be best to avoid them if their daily salaries are too high.
Nick Young and Jordan Crawford are still in a nasty timeshare that is just killing both their daily fantasy values.
Atlanta (-1.5) @ Charlotte 186.5 Total
ATL: J. Teague, J. Johnson, M. Williams, J. Smith, A. Horford
CHA: DJ Augustin, G. Henderson, DJ White, B. Diaw
Corey Maggette is out 2-4 weeks with a hamstring injury.
Josh Smith and Al Horford should be able to light it up inside against the smaller Bobcats interior of DJ White and Boris Diaw.
If the Bobcats can’t work inside, then DJ Augustin and Gerald Henderson should get an above average amount of shots from the perimeter, especially since Corey Maggette won’t be around to hog the ball.
Al Horford has the mobility to defend Boris Diaw well and limit his fantasy production.
Be careful using DJ White tonight. The Bobcats expect Tyrus Thomas to get some action in this one and it will come at the expense of White.
The Hawks played a triple overtime game last night and could be very fatigued.
Indiana @ Boston (-6) 186.5 Total
IND: D. Collison, P. George, D. Granger, D. West, R. Hibbert
BOS: R. Rondo, R. Allen, P. Pierce, K. Garnett, J. O’Neal
Ray Allen missed his last game with the flu, so check his gametime status. If he can’t go, Keyon Dooling will get another start.
Roy Hibbert could have a decent game against the weak Jermaine O’Neal.
Rajon Rondo will likey shut Darren Collison down.
The Paul Pierce / Danny Granger matchup and the David West / Kevin Garnett matchup are both tough fantasy calls. Not much edge either way.
Chicago @ Orlando (-1) 181.5 Total
CHI: D. Rose, R. Hamilton, L. Deng, C. Boozer, J. Noah
ORL: J. Nelson, J. Richardson, H. Turkoglu, R. Anderson, D. Howard
Derrick Rose is dealing with a sore elbow and could miss this game. Even if he does play, the elbow might hinder him enough to make his daily salary too high for the amount of production that he’ll be able to deliver.
Joakim Noah has be a subpar fantasy performer so far this season and a matchup against Dwight Howard isn’t going to help that. Avoid.
Carlos Boozer is a horrible defender and probably won’t be able to cover Ryan Anderson. Expect Anderson to score at least 20.
If Derrick Rose is out and Howard shuts down Joakim Noah, expect Luol Deng to be the primary scorer for the Bulls and produce a solid fantasy line. Carlos Boozer would likely benefit offensively as well.
Rip Hamilton is a gametime decision with lingering groin pain. Ronnie Brewer will get the start if Hamilton can’t go.
Denver (-5.5) @ New Orleans 191.5 Total
DEN: T. Lawson, A. Afflalo, D. Gallinari, A. Harrington, K. Koufos
NOR: J. Jack, E. Gordon, AF Aminu, C. Landry, E. Okafor
Game Preview from Denve Stiffs
Nene is still dealing with a foot injury and could miss this one, he’s a listed as a gametime decision. Kosta Koufos could get the start.
Trevor Ariza could miss this game with a groin injury which would give Al-Farouq Aminu another start.
Eric Gordon returned to the lineup for a game and hopefully his owners enjoyed that one, because he’s now out 2-3 weeks to let the knee heal more. Marco Belinelli will get the start tonight.
Al Harrington has been getting some good run off the bench and makes a nice daily value play, espcially if Nene misses this one.
Houston @ Oklahoma City (-8.5) 206.5 Total
HOU: K. Lowry, K. Martin, C. Budinger, L. Scola, (J. Hill/S. Dalembert)
OKC: R. Westbrook, J. Harden, K. Durant, S. Ibaka, K. Perkins
Game Preview from The Dream Shake
Thabo Sefolosha could be limited or miss this game altogether which would give James Harden another start. He’s a great daily value play.
Kendrick Perkins could be a surprise value play against the weak center pair of Jordan Hill and Samuel Dalembert.
Kevin Durant should have no problem putting up 30 on Chase Budinger.
Kyle Lowry had a misdemeanor battery charge filed against him yesterday, so he could be a little distracted. He’s also dealing with a sore foot and is a gametime decision. Probably best to avoid him completely tonight, especially with the elevated daily salary price tag.
Cleveland @ Minnesota (-7) 198.5Total
CLE: K. Irving, A. Parker, (A. Gee/O. Casspi), A. Jamison, A. Varejao
MIN: (L. Ridnour/R. Rubio), W. Johnson, M. Beasley, K. Love, D. Milicic
Kyrie Irving is a must start with his daily salary still not reflecting his true fantasy ability.
Antawn Jamison has had a couple of good games, but he runs into Kevin Love tonight, which could really limit his daily fantasy upside.
Still have to avoid Ricky Rubio due to the crazy timeshare situation.
Memphis @ Utah (-1.5) 186 Total
MEM: M. Conley, (T. Allen/OJ Mayo), R. Gay, D. Cunningham, M. Gasol
UTA: D. Harris, R. Bell/CJ Miles, G. Hayward, P. Millsap, A. Jefferson
Zach Randolph is out for the next 6-8 weeks with a torn MCL. Dante Cunningham will move into the starting lineup.
Devin Harris and Josh Howard are both dealing with injuries and are gametime decisions. Earl Watson will likely get the start if Harris can’t go, Gordon Hayward would get the start if Josh Howard can’t go.
Expect Rudy Gay to pick up the scoring to compensate for the loss of Zach Randolph.
Portland (-2.5) @ Phoenix 196.5 Total
POR: R. Felton, W. Matthews, G. Wallace, L. Aldridge, M. Camby
PHO: S. Nash, J. Dudley, G. Hill, (H. Warrick/C. Frye), M. Gortat
Game Preview from Bright Side of the Sun
Game Preview from BlazersEdge
Gerald Wallace has a great matchup against the aging Grant Hill.
LaMarcus Aldridge also has a good matchup against the Hakeem Warrick / Channing Frye pair.
The Marcus Camby / Marcin Gortat matchup is a tough fantasy call. Gortat could get the splint off his injured finger, so see if that might give him the edge.
I like the TrailBlazers minus the 2.5 in this one.
Golden State @ LA Lakers (-10.5) 186 Total
GSW: B. Rush, M. Ellis, D. Wright, D. Lee, A. Biedrins
LAL: D. Fisher/S. Blake, K. Bryant, M. Peace, P. Gasol, A. Bynum
Andrew Bynum is a must start against the weak pair of Andris Biedrins and Kwame Brown. Biedrins missed practice Thursday with an ankle injury, so check his gametime status.
Stephen Curry is out with more ankle problems. Charles Jenkins will get the start. I don’t know much about Jenkins, but he’s starting and he’s minimum salary on just about every daily site, and that’s a playable combination.