NBA Matchups, Lineups and Injury News 3/22/19

You can find all today’s starting lineups here. Follow live updates on Twitter.

For live betting information on all games, click here.

Injury News

For the most up to date injury information, click here.

Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo, George Hill (groin) and Sterling Brown (wrist) are probable. Pau Gasol (ankle) and Donte DiVincenzo (heel) are out.

Cavaliers: Kevin Love (head) is day-to-day.

Clippers: Wilson Chandler (quad) and Luc Mbah a Moute (knee) are out.

Grizzlies: Mike Conley (sore), Avery Bradley (shin), and CJ Miles (foot) are out.

Heat: Bam Adebayo (hip) is questionable. Rodney McGruder (knee) and Justise Winslow (thigh) are doubtful.

Knicks: Allonzo Trier (calf) and Dennis Smith Jr. (back) are out. Noah Vonleh (ankle) and Frank Ntilikina (groin) are questionable. Kadeem Allen (illness) is probable.

Lakers: LeBron James (groin) is probable. Josh Hart (knee) and Lance Stephenson (toe) are questionable. Lonzo Ball (ankle) and Brandon Ingram (DVT) are done for the year.

Magic: None

Nets: Allen Crabbe (knee) is out.

Nuggets: None

Raptors: Kyle Lowry (ankle) is out.

Rockets: Kenneth Faried (knee) is probable.

Spurs: None

Thunder: Nerlens Noel (quad) is a game-time decision.

Today’s NBA Matchups

Contents

Brooklyn Nets (37-36) at Los Angeles Lakers (31-40)

Line: Nets -3, O/U: 231

Lakers: 112 ppg, top ten defense, top five pace

Nets: 112 ppg, below average defense, below average pace

Notes:

• Magic Johnson traded D’Angelo Russell away, saying he wasn’t a leader. Russell has led his Nets to the playoffs, and they’ll have a chance to eliminate the Lakers from playoff contention in Staples Center tonight.
• Russell scored 27 of a career-high 44 in a ridiculous 28-point comeback win in Sacramento.
• Allen Crabbe will miss this game, still managing a knee that has bothered him all year.
• The Lakers have lost their last four, looking all sorts of terrible in the process.
• LeBron missed a 115-101 home loss to the Giannis-less Bucks, but he should play tonight. His last game action was getting stuffed by Mario Hezonja at the buzzer.
• Kyle Kuzma and Rajon Rondo combined for 30 points on just 10-33 shooting in the Bucks loss.
• On a positive note, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope exploded for 35 off the bench.

Denver Nuggets (48-22) at New York Knicks (14-58)

Line: Nuggets -11, O/U: 215

Knicks: 106 ppg, second-worst defense in the NBA, average pace

Nuggets: 112 ppg, above average defense, bottom five pace.

Notes:

• The Knicks have been tanking since November, and the Nuggets are one of the best teams in the league and winners of five straight.
• Dennis Smith Jr. remains out with a back issue, but Emmanuel Mudiay and Damyean Dotson combined for 36 points and 8 assists in a 137-116 loss to Utah.
• Rookie Kevin Knox had 27 points and 8 boards in that one, and he’s shooting 49% from three in his last ten.
• DeAndre Jordan has played 20 minutes or fewer in back-to-back losses. That may be more of a losing by 20+ thing than a shutting him down thing, but we’ll see.
• The Nuggets won 113-108 yesterday in Washington as eight players scored in double figures, including five guys with 15.
• Nikola Jokic was the key with 15 points, 11 assists and 6 boards. He and Paul Millsap were the only guys who played more than 30 minutes.

Los Angeles Clippers (42-30) at Cleveland Cavaliers (19-53)

Line: Clippers -6.5, O/U: 228

Cavaliers: 104 ppg, bottom five defense, bottom five pace

Clippers: 114 ppg, below average defense, fast pace

Notes:

• The Cavs have won two in a row, coming off a win against the Giannis-less Bucks.
• Kevin Love shot 1-10 from the field in that one, and 1-9 from three. He left the game with a head injury and is listed as day-to-day.
• Rookie Collin Sexton has scored 23+ points in his last seven games, shooting 52% from the floor and 50% from deep in his last ten.
• The Clippers have won eight of their last ten. They’re currently the eighth seed out West, but they have the same record as the fifth seed.
• Danilo Gallinari led the way with 24 points in a 115-109 win over Indiana, averaging 19 a game this year.
• Lou Williams scored just 11 points in that one, but he nearly doubled his assist average with 9.
• Montrezl Harrell is averaging 18 points and 8 boards in his last ten, scoring 20+ in five straight games.

Memphis Grizzlies (29-42) at Orlando Magic (34-38)

Line: Magic -9.5, O/U: 207

Magic: 106 ppg, average defense, slow pace

Grizzlies: 101 ppg, top ten defense, bottom five pace

Notes:

• The Magic have won three in a row by double digits against teams that no longer have an incentive to win. They now sit 1.5 games behind the Heat for the eighth seed.
• They waxed New Orleans 119-96 behind 20+ points from Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier.
• Nikola Vucevic added 15 points, 17 boards, and 3 blocks, and nobody played more than 30 minutes.
• The Grizzlies have been playing for only pride for some time now, and they’re coming off one of their best wins of the season in OT over Houston.
• Mike Conley put up 35 points, 8 assists, and 5 boards in that one, and he’s understandably pretty sore. He’ll be out for this one.
• Jonas Valanciunas came over in the Marc Gasol trade, and he added 33 points and 15 rebounds in the thrilling win.
• Chandler Parsons has scored in double figures two games in a row now, and it looks like his career might be rebounding a bit.

Miami Heat (35-36) at Milwaukee Bucks (53-19)

Line: Bucks -9, O/U: 218

Bucks: 117 ppg, best defense in the NBA, very fast pace

Heat: 105 ppg, top ten defense, slower than average pace

Notes:

• The Heat are hot and the Bucks are not. Milwaukee is just 5-5 in their last ten including losses to Phoenix and most recently Cleveland.
• Giannis Antetokounmpo has missed the last two games with an ankle, but he should be good to go tonight.
• Khris Middleton led the team in both games, averaging 28 points and 11 rebounds.
• Right now Tony Snell is filling in for Malcolm Brogdon as the starting point guard, but Pat Connaughton is playing more minutes and contributing at a higher level.
• The Heat have won eight of ten, and they ended the Spurs’ nine-game winning streak with an impressive 110-105 win in San Antonio.
• Goran Dragic led the way with 22 against the team that drafted him. He looks really good coming off the bench, shooting 51% from the floor and 53% from deep in his last ten.
• Dwyane Wade was magical in that game, hitting a half-court buzzer beater, an impossible lefty jump hook, and stripping DeMar DeRozan in the final seconds.

Oklahoma City Thunder (42-30) at Toronto Raptors (51-21)

Line: Raptors -2.5, O/U: 226

Raptors: 114 ppg, above average defense, average pace

Thunder: 114 ppg, second-best defense in the NBA, top five pace

Notes:

• Both of these teams are underperforming as of late, but Toronto won 123-114 in OT Wednesday night in OKC.
• Pascal Siakam led Toronto with 33 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals while Kawhi Leonard added 22 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals.
• Kyle Lowry missed that game with an ankle, and he’s out again tonight. The Raptors are 10-5 without him this year.
• Marc Gasol started in Serge Ibaka‘s return to the court after a three-game suspension. They’re both averaging right around 15 points and 8 boards for the year, but Gasol is a better facilitator while Ibaka brings more energy and defense.
• The game Wednesday was OKC’s fourth loss in a row.
• In the nine games since Paul George missed a few with a shoulder injury, his scoring has dipped to 25 per game with shooting splits of 38/33/80.
• Russell Westbrook finished with 42 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists, but he turned it over 9 times and didn’t score in Overtime until the game was already out of reach.

Marquee Matchup

San Antonio Spurs (42-30) at Houston Rockets (45-27)

Line: Rockets -6, O/U: 220

Rockets: 113 ppg, bottom five defense, bottom five pace

Spurs: 112 ppg, below average defense, very slow pace

Notes:

• James Harden put up 57 points, 8 assists, 7 steals, 2 rebounds and 2 blocks in Memphis. He scored 8 points in the final minute of OT, and they still lost.
• Chris Paul had 18, 7 and 7 in that one, but he shot 6-17 from the floor. He’s under 38% in his last ten,
• Clint Capela is averaging 16 points and 12 rebounds in his last ten, which is about where he was before his mid-season thumb injury.
• The Spurs put an exclamation point on a nine-game winning streak by beating Golden State, but they lacked focus and physicality in a letdown game against D Wade’s Heat.
• DeMar DeRozan grabbed a career-high 15 boards in that game to go with 16 points and 6 assists.
• LaMarcus Aldridge is averaging 23 points and 10 boards in his last ten with shooting splits of 56/49/91.
• Derrick White has played really well for this team and taken over games on both ends, but he managed just 3 points in the Heat loss.
• The bench unit of Rudy Gay, Patty Mills, Davis Bertans and Marco Belinelli combined for 59 points, 13 rebounds, and 15 assists.