NBA Matchups: November 1

Portland Trail Blazers at Detroit Pistons (front end)

Team Totals:

Injury Report: Jalen Duren (Q, ankle)

Blazers projected starters: Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Matisse Thybulle, Jerami Grant, Deandre Ayton

Pistons projected starters: Cade Cunningham, Killian Hayes, Ausar Thompson, Isaiah Stewart, Jalen Duren

Billups quotes: Said Camara continues to play great for them and he’s big enough to be used in small-ball lineups, said Scoot had a great night for them and expects him to build off it, said Ayton “was a really big deal” against the Raptors, said Brogdon calms them down in the second unit.

Monty quotes: Said they did not have discipline, said they got into too big of a hole early and were able to play “even basketball” after that, said they’re trying to make sure they get their shots off with 6-7 seconds left on the shot clock, said they were not making the extra pass, said they’re not worried about Cade’s seven turnovers, said their angles of screeners were not good because OKC kept going under, said Ausar just had a cramp and he should be good.

Stats and Notes: 

*The Blazers continue to be one of the worst defenses in the NBA at 25th even with the Raptors struggling against them on Monday. They’re giving up the most points at the rim due to rollers and cutters just getting all they can eat. So far, they’re actually defending guards well, which was a trend we saw last season as well. Detroit’s interior defense has been exceptional, ranking top five in points allowed per game and first per possession. They’ve turned around their on-ball defense thanks to Ausar Thompson and are no longer a team to pick on in fantasy.

*Scoot Henderson has been really bad this year with his league-worst 0.54 PPP (min. 50 possessions, 81 qualifiers). He looked a little better, but it’s almost impossible to trust him.

*Shaedon Sharpe is probably going to get the Ausar Thompson matchup to make it a tougher spot for him. Although, it could be Scoot or it could be Jerami Grant, so I’m not too confident there. Billups is playing Sharpe silly minutes at 38 and 41 in the two close games as a starter, so there are several paths for him to go off.

*Jerami Grant is likely getting Isaiah Stewart to make things tougher on him around the basket. The Pistons have controlled the paint to take away some of the easy stuff Grant needs for a big game. No thanks.

*Deandre Ayton had a career-high 23 rebounds on Monday, but that was more about the Raptors just missing everything. Ayton’s matchup is suddenly tough with Jalen Duren locking down the interior this year, and we’re just not getting the volume at just a 14.0% usage rate. Plus, Robert Williams is back, so the minutes ceiling shouldn’t be there.

*Cade Cunningham should be in a huge spot today. His role is huge at 15.5 drives per game, 6.6 minutes of touch time (eighth), and 12.3 potential assists. He’s still really struggled to score in pick and roll at just 0.70 PPP, which has been a problem for most of his career. The Blazers continue to throw Scoot out there against starting PGs and don’t cross-match, so it should be an extremely favorable matchup for him.

*Jalen Duren was crushing coming into the week, but OKC threw a lot of bodies at him to keep him in check on the boards. The Blazers are giving up the second-most rim points this year, so this should be a smash spot for Duren against Ayton.

*Ausar Thompson could also be looking at some heavy minutes against the young guards on the Blazers. He could also grind his way to some stocks to give him upside today.

Great matchups: Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren

Good matchups: Ausar Thompson, maybe Shaedon Sharpe

Bad matchups: Deandre Ayton

——————————————————————-

Milwaukee Bucks at Toronto Raptors (front end)

Team Totals:

Injury Report: MarJon Beauchamp (P, illness), Precious Achiuwa (D, groin), Christian Koloko (O, illness)

Bucks projected starters: Damian Lillard, Malik Beasley, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez

Raptors projected starters: Dennis Schroder, OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam, Jakob Poeltl

Griffin quotes: Said he liked how the team responded in a B2B, said he loved how Bobby Portis brought the energy and he was “everywhere” against the Heat, said he liked how everyone on the bench played, said he might try to find more ball-handling in the second unit, said Giannis was shooting 100 3PAs a day in the offseason, said they just came out flat against the Hawks on Sunday, said they’re going to get every team’s best shot, said Middleton “is the glue” to the team and he played well despite his minutes limit, said he looks forward to the day he can play Middleton big minutes and they’ll be “smart about” his minutes limit, said they’ll continue to bring Dame off ball to give him live dribbles in the halfcourt.

Darko quotes: Said they did not have enough pace in their halfcourt O and they were taking too many shots deep into the shot clock, said their offense was lacking downhill attacking, said they need to rebound better as a team (not just the bigs), said Gradey Dick is getting better, said they need to do a better job of closing games, said they need spacing to go with the pace and there’s a lot of room for improvement.

Stats and Notes: 

*The Bucks are off to a terrible start on the defensive end with a 117.8 D rating. While they’re keeping rim volume down, they’re getting killed per possession. They’re getting wrecked on C&S at 1.24 PPP for the third-worst mark in the league, and their transition defense has been brutal to tie for the most points allowed per game in transition (29.7; Wolves). They have to be better, right? Well, on the other side of this, the Raptors have been a lost cause on offense. They’re dead last in offensive efficiency in the halfcourt at 77.1 points per 100, which gets them to 29th in total offense per possession. The good news for the Raptors is they’re second in halfcourt D and fourth overall. The Raptors are playing slow still, so they’re becoming a bad game environment to start the season with the Toronto starting lineup having the best D rating (min. 20 minutes, 37 qualifiers). Although, the Milwaukee starters are playing at the fastest pace in the league at 114.0 (min. 20 minutes, 37 qualifiers).

*Damian Lillard has not skipped a beat as a PNR handler with his sterling 1.33 PPP on his 27 possessions to start the year. His usage is down, but the added pace could offset the nights he doesn’t have the insane usage. The matchup for Dame is tricky, and it could be OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, or Dennis Schroder on him. It’s probably going to be Scottie and Schroder, so I’d be interested in Dame today.

*Giannis Antetokounmpo should get the Anunoby matchup here. Giannis did go for 22/12/10 and 30/21/10 in the games against Anunoby last year, and there’s really no 1-on-1 defender that can slow him down. However, the Raptors are pretty well-equipped to keep him in check.

*The Raptors could be a sneaky spot for Malik Beasley, but it’s probably too big of a slate to go there. Khris Middleton’s minutes limit looks like it’s going to be on for weeks, so he’s not an option.

*Pascal Siakam has been a shell of himself to start this season. He’s shooting just 13.3% on his drives, and his usage has cratered to 21.6 (27.0 last season). He mentioned that he’s still trying to figure it out because everything is new. We probably just have to wait to see it, and the size of the Bucks makes it even tougher to feel confident in him.

*Dennis Schroder’s role is solid with his 15.0 potential assists ranking sixth in the league, and he’s in the top 10 for total touch time. The Bucks will almost certainly put Dame on him, so it’s a pretty good matchup for Schroder. There may not be enough upside, though.

*Scottie Barnes may run into some Malik Beasley to put him in an interesting spot. The Bucks struggling a bit in transition could open things up for him, as well. His usage has spiked with more passing, as well. Darko wants to play him big minutes, and he’s playable with the Bucks struggling a bit.

*It’s a pretty easy pass on Jakob Poeltl for the matchup with Brook Lopez, and the role just isn’t there.

Great matchups: Dennis Schroder

Good matchups: Scottie Barnes, Malik Beasley, Damian Lillard (I think OG gets Giannis)

Bad matchups: Pascal Siakam, Pascal Siakam

—————————————————–

Washington Wizards at Atlanta Hawks