NBA

Daily Fantasy NBA Adjusted Matchups and Pace for 1/20/21

Matchups matter in daily fantasy NBA, and it can be hard to keep everything -- pace, defensive rating, individual matchups -- tidy, so I wanted to fix that by dumping all the data into one place for ease of use.

So every day, I'll be posting some information on each game for the NBA main slate.

That'll include things like opponent-adjusted offensive and defensive ratings for each team. I'll also look at opponent-adjusted paces based on the team-level as well.

And to go a step further, I'll provide defense-versus-position (DvP) values based on FanDuel points per minute allowed to each position. The way that'll work is to adjust on the individual level. This means looking at each player's total fantasy points per minute mark to figure out an expected output in a game and comparing it to what actually happened. Holding a superstar and a role player to the same FanDuel-point-per-minute mark isn't quite the same. These values will adjust for expectation.

Because these stats don't stabilize that quickly, I'll blend 2019-20 and 2020-21 stats.

[Editor's note: The Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies game has been postponed.]

Adjusted Offensive Rating and Opponent Defensive Rating

This table shows each team's spread and implied total (plus the over/under for their game). It also includes opponent-adjusted offensive rating and the adjusted defensive rating for each team's opponent, including league-wide ranks for each.

Teams are sorted by implied team total.

Team Opp Over/
Under
Spread Implied
Total
Adj.
Offensive
Rating
Rank Opp Adj.
Defensive
Rating
Rank
LACSAC231.0-10.0120.50117.82113.127
BKNCLE222.5-10.0116.25108.020113.328
GSSA229.0-1.5115.2599.830111.621
SAGS229.01.5113.75113.110112.325
PHXHOU221.0-5.5113.25113.011109.012
TORMIA222.0-4.0113.0111.513109.011
ATLDET220.5-5.0112.75102.926112.426
PORMEM222.0-1.0111.50114.09108.610
PHIBOS218.0-4.5111.25110.915106.44
MEMPOR222.01.0110.50105.622113.829
SACLAC231.010.0110.50109.816108.08
ORLMIN217.0-3.5110.25104.723112.324
DALIND218.5-1.0109.75118.81107.45
MIATOR222.04.0109.0114.76104.62
INDDAL218.51.0108.75109.117111.317
DETATL220.55.0107.75105.821111.822
HOUPHX221.05.5107.75111.612110.315
MINORL217.03.5106.75103.324107.97
BOSPHI218.04.5106.75114.37107.96
CLEBKN222.510.0106.25101.128109.313

Adjusted Pace and Expected Pace, Offensive Rating, and Points

This table shows each team's adjusted pace and adjusted opponent pace to find expected pace. Expected offensive rating combines each team's adjusted offensive rating and the opponent's adjusted defensive rating. Combining expected pace and expected offensive rating gives us expected points.

Teams are sorted by fastest adjusted pace. Remember, these still bake in 2019-20 stats.

Team Opp Adj.
Pace
Rank Opp
Adj.
Pace
Rank Expected
Pace
Expected
Offensive
Rating
Expected
Points
ATL DET 104.2 3 98.4 26 101.9 108.9 110.9
MIN ORL 103.9 5 99.0 25 102.1 104.7 106.9
HOU PHX 103.6 6 100.8 14 103.6 111.3 115.3
MEM POR 103.2 7 101.8 9 104.2 111.7 116.4
BKN CLE 102.7 8 99.6 21 101.6 112.4 114.1
POR MEM 101.8 9 103.2 7 104.2 110.7 115.4
GS SA 101.5 10 100.6 16 101.3 106.6 107.9
TOR MIA 101.1 11 98.3 28 98.6 109.9 108.4
LAC SAC 101.0 12 99.4 22 99.6 117.1 116.6
PHX HOU 100.8 14 103.6 6 103.6 110.7 114.7
SA GS 100.6 16 101.5 10 101.3 114.0 115.5
DAL IND 100.1 17 99.7 20 99.0 112.0 110.9
PHI BOS 99.9 18 99.7 19 98.9 106.9 105.7
BOS PHI 99.7 19 99.9 18 98.9 110.2 108.9
IND DAL 99.7 20 100.1 17 99.0 110.9 109.9
CLE BKN 99.6 21 102.7 8 101.5 104.9 106.5
SAC LAC 99.4 22 101.0 12 99.6 108.0 107.5
ORL MIN 99.0 25 103.9 5 102.1 109.7 112.0
DET ATL 98.4 26 104.2 3 101.8 109.8 111.8
MIA TOR 98.3 28 101.1 11 98.6 107.1 105.6

Player-Level Adjusted FanDuel Points per Minute by Position

This table is presented to be viewed from an offensive perspective (i.e. the defensive marks reflect the offense's opponent).

The matchups shown are their opponent's defensive FanDuel-point-per-minute mark adjusted for individual opponents faced. League-wide ranks are in parenthesis. Because outliers are the primary matchups worth targeting and avoiding, green cells indicate top-five easiest matchups for the offense, and red indicate bottom-five.

Teams are sorted alphabetically for ease of use.

Offense Defense PG SG SF PF C
ATL DET 0.96 (17) 0.86 (10) 0.83 (9) 1.02 (26) 1.13 (21)
BKN CLE 1.03 (30) 0.89 (22) 0.93 (27) 0.98 (20) 1.11 (16)
BOS PHI 0.93 (11) 0.84 (3) 0.83 (10) 0.92 (6) 1.00 (3)
CLE BKN 0.96 (19) 0.88 (19) 0.87 (16) 0.97 (16) 1.18 (28)
DAL IND 0.92 (10) 0.83 (2) 0.82 (4) 0.92 (8) 1.15 (23)
DET ATL 0.99 (27) 0.94 (30) 0.94 (30) 1.03 (27) 1.18 (27)
GS SA 0.98 (24) 0.85 (4) 0.90 (26) 0.99 (23) 1.07 (8)
HOU PHX 0.92 (6) 0.9 (23) 0.83 (6) 0.95 (12) 1.15 (24)
IND DAL 0.89 (2) 0.86 (11) 0.94 (28) 0.95 (14) 1.08 (11)
LAC SAC 0.99 (26) 0.92 (27) 0.84 (11) 0.91 (4) 1.08 (9)
MEM POR 0.98 (23) 0.89 (21) 0.88 (18) 1.07 (30) 1.11 (14)
MIA TOR 0.93 (13) 0.86 (14) 0.89 (22) 0.96 (15) 1.01 (4)
MIN ORL 0.96 (18) 0.88 (18) 0.87 (17) 0.98 (19) 0.97 (1)
ORL MIN 1.00 (28) 0.92 (28) 0.89 (24) 1.00 (24) 1.17 (25)
PHI BOS 0.88 (1) 0.86 (9) 0.80 (1) 0.94 (11) 1.08 (10)
PHX HOU 0.97 (21) 0.87 (17) 0.94 (29) 0.99 (22) 1.12 (19)
POR MEM 0.97 (20) 0.90 (24) 0.87 (15) 0.99 (21) 1.13 (20)
SA GS 0.97 (22) 0.94 (29) 0.88 (20) 1.00 (25) 1.14 (22)
SAC LAC 0.92 (8) 0.86 (13) 0.81 (2) 0.93 (9) 1.11 (17)
TOR MIA 0.90 (4) 0.86 (8) 0.86 (12) 0.92 (7) 1.02 (5)