Dose: NBA Opening Night!
Welcome to opening day in the NBA! How excited am I? Well, I went to bed at about 11 p.m. as I prepare to rise at 4 a.m. and take my wife and kid to the airport. And here I am, wide-awake at 2 a.m. writing the first Daily Dose of the season. I guess I’ll sleep when most of you are going to work.
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There are just three games tonight, as the Pelicans host the Magic and the Mavs visit the Spurs at 8 p.m., while the Lakers host the Rockets at 10:30. The latter two are on TNT tonight, while the other one will be on the NBA League Pass. And in case you’re new to this NBA world, the League Pass will be free for the first week of the season (Tuesday to Tuesday), so be careful with that, or you’ll soon be justifying to your wife why you just dropped $200.
Pelicans @ Magic
Channing Frye still doesn’t sound ready for the Magic, but he does appear to be getting closer from a knee injury. If he’s not owned in your league, put him on your watch list now. Victor Oladipo, who I drafted heavily before he suffered a Broken Face, is now expected to miss about a month of the season, or 15-20 games. That should mean good things for rookie point guard Elfrid Payton, while Evan Fournier will likely be starting in his place. In the meantime, both players should be relatively cheap in FanDuel. Other Magic Men of note are C Nikola Vucevic, F Tobias Harris, and PF Andrew Nicholson (for as long as Frye is out). The Magic play three games in Week 1.
For the Pelicans, owners who had a Top 4 pick in fantasy drafts will get their first real look at Anthony Davis, the prized possession in most drafts after Kevin Durant went down. Davis is dealing with a sprained wrist, but all signs point to him playing and posting a monster line tonight. SF Tyreke Evans was an hour late to practice on Saturday, but sounds like he’s good to go on Tuesday. He played near the end of the preseason and had a fat stat line last Monday. SG Eric Gordon is healthy right now, which means you should play him while you can. Jrue Holiday is a turnover prone point guard, but could really spread his wings and fly this season, and C Omer Asik should rack up some nice boards and blocks with the starting job in New Orleans. Ryan Anderson should be coming off the bench, but he’ll get close to starter’s minutes and his neck injury appears to be a distant memory. He’s going to hit a ton of 3-pointers this season, and is also a good rebounder. Keep an eye on Jimmer Fredette in the second unit. They want him to score and he had a nice preseason. In deeper leagues, if things go according to plan, I’m guessing he’ll be one of the hotter free agents to be plucked off waiver wires in the first couple weeks of the season. The Pels play just two games in Week 1.
Mavericks @ Spurs
Newcomer SF Chandler Parsons has been dealing with a sore knee, but went through a full practice on Monday. He should be good to go. I’m more worried about how Parsons, PF Dirk Nowitzki, SG Monta Ellis and whoever is playing point guard are going to all share the ball, more than I am about CP’s knee. Jameer Nelson is expected to start at PG and will be backed up for the first week or so by Devin Harris. Raymond Felton is out for the first few games with a high ankle sprain, but that’s going to be a nasty timeshare once everyone is healthy. Tyson Chandler is your starting center in Big D. The Mavs are expected to cut Gal Mekel in order to sign J.J. Barea, but it’s yet to happen. The Mavs play three times in Week 1.
The Spurs will be without Kawhi Leonard on Tuesday as he continues to deal with a dual eye infection that won’t seem to heal. It’s hard to say how much more time he’ll miss, but benching him in weekly leagues is probably the safe move to make. He could be replaced in the lineup by Boris Diaw, but with Gregg Popovich calling the shots, we won’t know the starting lineup until just before game time. Diaw may be needed at center, as Tiago Splitter has already been ruled out, as well. With both Splitter and Leonard out, Diaw looks like a decent play this week in both regular leagues and FanDuel. And if Diaw starts at C, Marco Belinelli, Austin Daye or Matt Bonner could draw a start tonight. Tony Parker, Danny Green and Tim Duncan will be starting for the Spurs, who play just two games in Week 1. Green had a nice preseason and will be attempting a bounce-back season after last year’s disappointment. Manu Ginobili really struggled throughout the preseason and I don’t trust him right now. Especially with just two games on the slate.
Rockets @ Lakers
Dwight Howard is dealing with a sore knee and arm, but appears to be on track to play tonight after returning to practice on Sunday. Tune in tonight to watch him rack up big-man stats and miss free throws. SG James Harden, who was taken at No. 5 in most drafts, should be ready to roll, along with PG Patrick Beverley, SF Trevor Ariza, PF Terrence Jones and Howard. Ariza is poised for a big season and had a nice preseason, while Jones really struggled in the exhibition games. Yeah, I’m a bit down on him right now, but he won the starting job and should play better now that the games count. The Rockets play three games this week.
We still don’t know who will start at PG for the Lakers, as Ronnie Price was getting the nod over Jeremy Lin during most of the preseason. Lin is still the guy I want to own, and coming off the bench and playing against second units could actually work in his favor. Price is dealing with a sore right knee, but is probable to play tonight. And that means he could start the game over Lin. Kobe Bryant is ready to start at SG and could have a monster season if he can stay healthy. And if he does, he might end up being the steal of your draft. Wes Johnson should start at SF, Carlos Boozer will likely start and split minutes with rookie Julius Randle at PF, and Jordan Hill is your starting center. Xavier Henry, Nick Young and Ryan Kelly are all out for the Lakers, who play four games this week – the most of any team in the league.
Looking ahead to Wednesday, the Pacers and Wizards are the most intriguing teams to me. The Pacers are really banged up, as George Hill is now expected to miss three weeks with a knee injury. That leaves Rodney Stuckey or Donald Sloan as the starting point guard, and I’m intrigued enough with Sloan to throw him out there in FanDuel with his cheap salary. Stuckey is banged up with a foot injury and remains questionable for Wednesday. If he’s out, Sloan looks even better, but the plan for now is to start Stuckey at SG and Sloan at PG. With the backcourt hurting, starting SF C.J. Miles is very intriguing, despite the fact he never seems to live up to the hype. Things don’t get any easier at power forward, as David West will likely miss the entire week with an ankle injury. And that means Chris Copeland, who scored in bunches and hit a ton of 3-pointers in the preseason, is also looking like FanDuel gold. Luis Scola or Copeland will likely start at PF for Week 1, but Copeland and his 3-point prowess is the guy I like. Roy Hibbert is actually healthy, locked and loaded at center, and I’m expecting him to bounce back this season.
The Wizards will be without Bradley Beal (wrist), Nene (suspended), DeJuan Blair (suspended) on opening night. Additionally, Glen Rice Jr. (ankle), Martell Webster (back surgery), Paul Pierce (knee) and Kris Humphries (finger) are all banged up. My guess is that Rice and Pierce will play, while Humps and Webster may not. A makeshift starting lineup of PG John Wall, SG Rice, SF Paul Pierce, PF Kevin Seraphin and C Marcin Gortat will take the floor on Wednesday. Seraphin put up a few big lines in the preseason and I love him as a sneaky, cheap FanDuel play on Wednesday. Assuming Pierce is ready to go, Otto Porter will come off the bench, but looked great in the preseason. He’ll likely be the sixth man to start the season and is another sneaky play. With Nene and Blair out Wednesday, Drew Gooden is another guy who could make some noise on opening night.
Additionally, Greg Monroe is suspended for the first two games of the season for the Pistons, and P.J. Tucker is also suspended for Phoenix.
Here’s the full schedule and a mini injury report for Wednesday. Click on each player’s name for details on their situation.
Philadelphia @ Indiana: Michael Carter-Williams out. See above for Indy injuries.
Milwaukee @ Charlotte: Lance Stephenson, Larry Sanders questionable, Gerald Henderson doubtful,
Brooklyn @ Boston: Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo questionable, Brook Lopez doubtful
Washington @ Miami: Danny Granger, Luol Deng questionable, Josh McRoberts out. See above for Washington injuries.
Atlanta @ Toronto: Both teams should be at full strength.
Chicago @ New York: ESPN Jimmy Butler, Jose Calderon, J.R. Smith questionable
Minnesota @ Memphis: Courtney Lee questionable
Detroit @ Denver: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope questionable, Jodie Meeks out, Greg Monroe suspended for first two games (Josh Smith to start at PF). Ty Lawson and JaVale McGee sound probable for Denver.
Houston @ Utah: Derrick Favors sounds probable with a sore knee.
L.A. Lakers @ Phoenix: P.J. Tucker is suspended. See above for Laker injuries.
Golden State @ Sacramento: Shaun Livingston out, Andrew Bogut probable. Omri Casspi, Rudy Gay, Nik Stauskas probable for Kings.
Oklahoma City @ Portland: ESPN Kevin Durant, Reggie Jackson, Anthony Morrow out, Andre Roberson, Jeremy Lamb, Kendrick Perkins questionable, Perry Jones probable. Steve Blake is probable for Blazers.
