NBA Matchups: March 20

Happy Friday! I’m in Nashville for the DraftKings Fantasy Basketball World Championship and had a blast last night. While traveling and winning money at PIG last night, I didn’t have much time to write yesterday. I hit the macros today, and I’ll be on the Injury Show later.

NYK @ BKN | GSW @ DET | ATL @ HOU | BOS @ MEM | POR @ MEM | TOR @ DEN

New York Knicks at Brooklyn Nets

Team Totals: Knicks 117, Nets 99.5

Injury Report: Josh Hart (O, knee), Ziaire Williams (Q, hand), Noah Clowney (O, wrist), Ben Saraf (P, foot)

Knicks projected starters: Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Landry Shamet, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns

Nets projected starters: Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ziaire Williams, Danny Wolf, Nic Claxton

Brown quotes: Said Jose was DPOG, said they were great on the boards with KAT and Mitch, said maybe Hart was so good because he had some Mike and Ikes (it was Mike and Ike Night and he’s sponsored by them), said Mikal was fighting through his ankle issue and they wanted to get him the ball late, said two days off should be “plenty of time to get [Brunson’s] body right,” said Jose was able to get into the paint when he wanted, said Clarkson has been great lately and that’s why he went with him over Diawara.

Jordi quotes: Said his guys “have to be ready at all times” when he is taking guys in/out of the rotation, said Liddell played hard for his minutes at the end, talked about knowing Daigneault from when they were coaching U19 teams.

Stats and Notes: 

*The Nets are a disaster and are dead last in net rating since the break at -16.2, and they are gapping the league with their horrendous 103.6 O rating in that span (86.5 in the halfcourt). The Knicks’ defense has been playing well and ranks fourth since the break with some excellent rebounding, and they have actually kept teams in the halfcourt more than anyone since the break (a Mike Brown staple over the years). The Knicks overall have been strong on the defensive end and rank fifth (19th in halfcourt per possession). NYK is still giving up a ton of C&S as usual, though. The Nets haven’t hit 100 in three straight, and that should continue. For the Knicks on offense, they’ve been solid in the top 10 since the break, thanks to their rebounding and also playing a tad faster (11th in transition frequency since the break). The Nets are one of the league’s worst rebounding teams, and it should only get worse with Noah Clowney being out and inserting players who shouldn’t be getting NBA minutes. The Nets are still doubling on the ball a ton, which will really open things up inside as usual.

*The Nets are just spreading things out way too much to use them in DFS.

*It’s so bad for Mikal Bridges. Brown said he pushed him up later in the blowout against the Pacers to get him going. He did not. If you bet Mikal’s under on his points in the last seven, you would’ve won all of those bets.

Great matchups: Karl-Anthony Towns

Good matchups: Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Landry Shamet

Bad matchups: The Nets

Golden State Warriors (front end) at Detroit Pistons (back end)