NBA Project Starting Lineups, Matchups, and Injury News 3/4/19

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: George Hill (groin) and Sterling Brown (wrist) are out. Ersan Ilyasova (hamstring) is probable.

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

Hawks: John Collins (illness) is day-to-day. Omari Spellman (ankle) is out.

Heat: Hassan Whiteside (hip) and Goran Dragic (hamstring) are questionable.

Jazz: Ricky Rubio (hamstring) is day-to-day. Raul Neto (hamstring) is out.

Kings: Marvin Bagley III (knee sprain) is out.

Knicks: DeAndre Jordan (ankle) and Mario Hezonja (leg) are out.

Lakers: Lance Stephenson (toe) is questionable.

Mavericks: Tim Hardaway Jr. (illness) is day-to-day.

Nets: Treveon Graham (back) is questionable.

Nuggets: Trey Lyles (hamstring) is out.

Pelicans: Anthony Davis (illness) is out.

Spurs: Bryn Forbes (calf bruise) is probable.

Suns: TJ Warren (ankle) is out.

Today’s NBA Matchups

Contents

Atlanta Hawks (22-42) at Miami Heat (28-34)

Line: Heat -9, O/U: 222

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

Hawks: 111 ppg, bottom ten defense, fastest pace in the NBA

Notes:

• The Heat have hit a rough skid late in the season dealing with a rash of injuries to key players, but they’re coming off a 117-88 drubbing of Brooklyn.
• Miami did that without Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside, who are both questionable tonight.
• The Hawks have been a competitive team in 2019, showing a lot of promise.
• Rookie Trae Young had an epic three-game stretch with 36 and 8 assists, 36 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds, then 49, 16 and 8 in a quadruple OT loss to Chicago. He got to 18 points and 5 dimes before a garbage ejection for talking some smack to Kris Dunn the next game.
• Second-year big John Collins averages 20 points and 10 rebounds this season to lead the team in both categories, but he missed the 123-118 win over the Bulls. Alex Len stepped up with 28 points, 9 boards, and 2 blocks.

Dallas Mavericks (27-35) at Brooklyn Nets (32-33)

Line: Nets -5, O/U: 227

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

Mavericks: 109 ppg, average defense, average pace

Notes:

• The Nets have lost three games in a row to worse teams, falling back under .500. Miami blew their doors off 117-88 on the second night of a back to back.
• D’Angelo Russell is averaging 25 points and 9 assists per game in his last ten.
• Caris LeVert, Allen Crabbe, and Spencer Dinwiddie are all versatile wings returning from injury. How well they get settled come playoff time will determine how far this team can go.
• The Mavs have nothing left to play for this season, and even if they did they wouldn’t have the right guys healthy to do it.
• Dallas got blown out 111-81 by a down and out Memphis team on Saturday.
• Luka Doncic turned 20 last week. He averaged 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists in the NBA as a teenager, and the Mavs will probably shut him down at some point to preserve him for the future.

Los Angeles Clippers (36-29) at Los Angeles Lakers (30-33)

Line: Lakers -4, O/U: 235

Lakers: 112.5 ppg, top ten defense, top five pace

Clippers: 114 ppg, below average defense, fast pace

Notes:

• The Lakers’ playoff hopes essentially end tonight if they can’t eke out a win. LeBron has been to seven NBA Finals in a row and hasn’t missed the playoffs since before he could legally drink a nice Merlot.
• LeBron put up 27 points, 9 rebounds and 16 assists in a loss to the dumpster-fire Suns.
• LeBron, Brandon Ingram, and JaVale McGee shot a combined 30/50 from the floor, but everyone else managed just 13/39.
• The Clippers continue to win games while the Lakers keep finding ways to lose.
• Lou Williams, Danilo Gallinari and Montrezl Harrell are the best three players on the best team in Los Angeles right now.

Milwaukee Bucks (48-15) at Phoenix Suns (13-51)

Line: Bucks -12.5, O/U: 233

Suns: 106 ppg, bottom five defense, average pace

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

Notes:

• The collapsing Suns just became the worst team to ever beat a LeBron-led team with a decisive 118-109 win over the Lakers.
• Deandre Ayton led Phoenix with 26 points and 10 rebounds, half of which were offensive.
• Devin Booker added 25 points, 4 assists, and 4 rebounds, even though he went 0/5 from deep.
• The league-leading Bucks had won seven in a row and 12 of their last 13 but fell 115-111 in Utah on the second night of a back-to-back.
• Giannis Antetokounmpo did all he could with 43 points, 14 rebounds, and 8 assists. Fellow All-Star Khris Middleton added 29, 9 and 6.
• Eric Bledsoe and Malcolm Brogdon missed that game, but neither is listed on the injury report tonight.
• The Bucks have signed Pau Gasol for the rest of the season. The 38-year-old big man suffered a broken foot this year and struggled to crack the rotation in San Antonio.

New Orleans Pelicans (29-36) at Utah Jazz (36-26)

Line: Jazz -10.5, O/U: 229

Jazz: 109 ppg, top five defense, average pace

Pelicans: 116 ppg, bottom five defense, top five pace

Notes:

• The Jazz have won four in a row, coming off their best wins of the season over the Nuggets and Bucks in consecutive games.
• Donovan Mitchell poured in 46 points in that game to match Giannis Antetokounmpo.
• Rudy Gobert commended his coach for benching him in favor of Derrick Favors (sorry). Favors finished with 23 points, 18 rebounds, and 3 blocks. He was +29 in 32 minutes.
• Ricky Rubio missed the Nuggets win with a tight hamstring, and he’s day-to-day after it seemed to bother him in the Bucks win.
• The Pelicans don’t want to play Anthony Davis, partly to keep him healthy for a trade and partly because they’ve actually played better and more cohesively without him since his trade request. He’s conveniently ill tonight.
• Jrue Holiday and Julius Randle combined for 57 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists in a 120-112 win in Denver without Davis on the second night of a back to back.
• The Pelicans just signed Latvian shooter Dairis Bertans, the older brother of Spurs sharpshooter Davis. Dairis shot 50% from three in the EuroLeague.

New York Knicks (13-50) at Sacramento Kings (31-31) 

Line: Kings -11.5, O/U: 230

Kings: 113 ppg, bottom-third defense, second-fastest pace

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

Notes:

• The Kings have lost five of their last six, and it couldn’t come at a worse time. Their 116-109 home loss to the Clippers could prove very important in deciding who goes to the playoffs and who doesn’t.
• Rookie Marvin Bagley III suffered a scary knee sprain, and he’ll be reevaluated in a week or so.
• Buddy Hield‘s scoring average is up to 25 per game over the last five, but he’s shooting just 41% on a higher volume of shots.
• Harrison Barnes is averaging 11.5 points on 37% shooting with the Kings.
• De’Aaron Fox is averaging 18 points and 9 assists per game since the All-Star break.
• The Knicks lost in Los Angeles yesterday 128-107, and the Kings are even more desperate for the eighth slot in the West than those Clippers.
• Emmanuel Mudiay, Mitchell Robinson and Allonzo Trier each dropped 16 off the bench for New York in that loss, and Robinson added 13 boards and 4 blocks.
• DeAndre Jordan remains out with a sprained ankle.

Denver Nuggets (42-20) at San Antonio Spurs (35-29)

Line: Spurs -1, O/U: 230

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

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

Notes:

• After an abysmal 1-7 Rodeo Road Trip, the Spurs have come home and beat Detroit and the Paul George-less Thunder by double digits.
• LaMarcus Aldridge put up 17 points in the first quarter and finished with 27-10. He started the second half of the season under the weather, but he looks back to his normal self after his third solid game in a row.
• DeMar DeRozan looks much better after the All-Star Break, averaging 23 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists while shooting 56% from the floor.
• Derrick White is back healthy, and he was the primary defender holding Russell Westbrook under 20 points with 7 turnovers. White finished with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals.
• The Nuggets suffered an embarrassing 120-112 loss at home to a Pelicans team without Anthony Davis.
• Nikola Jokic had 20 points on 7/11 shooting to go with 9 rebounds and 7 assists, but the rest of the Nuggets shot under 40% from the floor.
• Paul Millsap is averaging 16 points and 11 rebounds over the last ten games.
• Gary Harris started for the first time since returning from an adductor injury. He’s averaged 9 points on 35% shooting in the last five games.