Carmelo Stars For Knicks; Howard Leads Lakers

IND@ SAS: If the Spurs win again, it will be the first 4-0 start in franchise history. The Pacers would have a much better chance with Danny Granger (knee) in the lineup, but his replacement Gerald Green may have trouble against the tenacious San Antonio defense. It’s not just Tony Parker and Tim Duncan off to superb starts; Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green picked up the slack while Manu Ginobili was out with back spasms. At C, Boris Diaw and Tiago Splitter seem to have relegated DeJuan Blair to third-string.

For Indiana, Paul George is the new focal point, and Roy Hibbert needs to dominate inside to give his teammates more room. George Hill played 45 minutes of their double-OT win on Saturday, D.J. Augustin only 13, so the PG timeshare I was envisioning didn’t happen. The sneaky play at FanDuel is Lance Stephenson, who has become a bench scorer.

GWS @ SAC: This will be entertaining. Stephen Curry and company are playing well, even upsetting the Clippers in L.A., and the Kings are desperate to win a game. Andrew Bogut will play limited minutes, but I still like DeMarcus Cousins to put up his first monster line of the young season. Marcus Thornton is thriving in his role as bench gunner; he’s playing more SF as nominal starter James Johnson has been terrible so far.

The season-ending knee injury to Brandon Rush has rescued Richard Jefferson from fantasy oblivion. If rookie Harrison Barnes struggles at SF, the veteran RJ will see more minutes. Klay Thompson can also slide over to the 3, which opens up more playing time for versatile Jarrett Jack.

CLE @ LAC: The Cavaliers won their opener, were horrible in a 29-point loss, then bounced back the next night with a strong effort that fell just short. They need Anderson Varejao more than ever tonight against the Clippers’ strong front line, but the matchup of Blake Griffin against Tristan Thompson could expose a major weakness. The confrontation between Chris Paul and Kyrie Irving will be fun to watch. Jamal Crawford has scored over 12,000 points in this league, at a career 40.9 FG%. In three games so far, he’s shooting 53.5%, which is unsustainable. Ride him while he’s this hot; just be prepared for regression to the mean.