Fantasy FanHouse

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving, Jason Williams Takes Back

Tom Lorenzo — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

Talk about a disappointment. Jason Williams went from putting up a serious Jameer Nelson-like line on Wednesday night -- 25 points, eight assists, four treys and a steal -- to putting up a stat-line that even Chris Duhon would scoff at on Thursday night -- zero points on 0-of-3 shooting, three assists and two steals. It was an ugly game for Williams, though Anthony Johnson made the most of his appearance -- 17 points, three treys, two rebounds and three assists. I would still stick with Jason Williams, though. He giveth, and then taketh away. It all evens out in the end, right?

Dwight Howard was strong with a capital "S" last night -- 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting, 17 rebounds and four blocks. This after failing to block a single shot in his two previous games. It's been that kind of a season for the big fella, going stretches without blocking any shots and then getting active and making up for lost time. I suppose as long as you get the blocks, it won't matter much at all if they come in bulk.

Also In the Headlines

o. Louis Williams is out for up to eight weeks due to the fractured jaw he suffered on Tuesday night against the Wizards. Time to give a serious look at Jrue Holiday, though I worry that his inconsistencies may keep him from being a standard league addition. In his first game filling in for the injured Williams, he went for 10 points and six assists in 35 minutes against the Celtics. A so-so line, but the good news, if you want to call it that, came by way of the 13 shot attempts he had. Holiday was aggressive against Rajon Rondo and could become a nice spark-plug add if he gains some confidence as a starter.

o. Al Horford was nearly silenced by Dwight Howard, as he went for just two points and nine rebounds in 35 minutes. He was up against the most dominant big in the league, but it hurts to see a guy like Horford struggle so mightily.

o. Mike Bibby started for the Hawks, after having sprained his left ankle on Monday night. He logged 35 minutes and offered up 10 points and five assists. If you own Bibby, you can get him back into your lineup, though my expectations for him have waned.

o. Paul Millsap had a solid, yet efficient line -- 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting, nine rebounds, a steal and two blocks. I can't bring myself to starting him in weekly leagues unless the Jazz play four times.

o. Luol Deng was the only Bull who mattered last night. He scored 26 points, pulled down eight rebounds, made a three-pointer and picked four steals. Derrick Rose was simply OK -- 19 points on 9-of-17 shooting, two assists and four turnovers -- and John Salmons, well, he wasn't very good at all -- nine points on 4-of-11 shooting, five rebounds and three steals. Salmons hasn't provided fifth-round returns much this season. Regardless, it was a terrible week to have any Bulls in your lineup, since they played just twice this week.

Tonight

o. There are 24 active teams, 12 games, on the schedule tonight. Enjoy the action, we'll have plenty to talk about this weekend.

o. Shaquille O'Neal is hoping to return against Charlotte.

o. Jrue Holiday will get his second start of the season versus the Hawks. Worth watching if you're in the market for a point guard.

o. As initially though, Ben Gordon is likely out on Friday. Will Bynum should get in your lineup.

Lotto Line

3-8-12-14-28

o. Carlos Boozer won the night, with 28 points on 12-of-14 shooting, eight rebounds, five assists, and three blocks. You won't see a much better line than this from nearly any power forward this weekend. You have to love the 12-of-14 shooting performance. Now the question is, when do the Jazz move on Boozer? That's a topic for another time.

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving, Jason Williams Takes Back originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nets Keep Streak Alive; Eric Gordon Back, Ben Gordon Out

Tom Lorenzo — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

The Nets lost their 15th game of the season, as they are now two games from tying the record for the worst start in NBA history. Last night it was Greg Oden and the Trail Blazers who did them in. Oden was large, going for a team-high 18 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. It was a fairly balanced attack with six Blazers scoring in double-figures. If we must nitpick, it's a little disconcerning that Brandon Roy failed to hit the 20-points mark for the fourth straight game. Somebody's not getting a 'big ups' at many Thanksgiving dinners this year, I presume.

For the Nets it was all Brook Lopez. He followed up Wednesday night's five-point performance with 32 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks against the big Portland front-line. Chris Douglas-Roberts also redeemed himself by scoring 18 points to along with three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Not much help elsewhere, as the Nets inch closer to John Wall.

With this being a holiday, I'm going to have to condense the lines this morning. You understand, right?

Also In the Headlines

o. Allen Iverson has retired. I am contractually obligated to mention that. From a fantasy perspective -- drop him.

o. Eric Gordon returned from a stubborn groin injury last night to play 27 minutes, while knocking down 2-of-7 shots for a total of six points. Prior to the game Gordon claimed to be 100-percent, giving himself a clean bill of health. Well that's comforting. It should only be another game or so before he gets his rhythm back. As for his replacement, Rasual Butler, I would go ahead and drop him in all standard leagues.

o. Danny Granger sat out last night with a sprained knee. Right now he's listed as day-to-day. Dahntay Jones was able to use one of his nine lives last night as he found himself back in the starting lineup -- 18 points on 6-of-19 shooting and seven rebounds.

o. Elton Brand (hamstring) and Louis Williams (fractured jaw) both sat out last night against the Celtics. Rookie Jrue Holiday got the start at the point. He looked decent at times, but finished with just 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting, six assists and four turnovers. Only if you're desperate should you grab Holiday. Taking Brand's spot in the starting lineup was Jason Smith, who went for eight points, six rebounds and two threes in 25 minutes. Only if you're nasty, or desperate for threes, should you add Smith.

o. Ben Gordon left early last night due to a sprained ankle. He logged just 17 minutes and is considered day-to-day, but I have a feeling he might miss Friday's game against the Clippers. If that's the case, Will Bynum becomes a must-start. I'll post the update tomorrow as it comes in.

o. Donte Greene wants to know if there is any more room for him, in those jeans. He was a monster last night -- albeit against the Knicks. He scored 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting. 6-of-7 from beyond the arc, four rebounds, five assists, a steal and six blocks. Ya heard, indeed. I'll admit, I have been a Syracuse fan since as far back as I can remember, so I will save my excitement for a Gerry McNamara sighting. But if you've got room, you might want to give Greene a look. Certainly in deep leagues, but he can get hot enough to be a standard add in the near future.

o. Luke Ridnour and Hakim Warrick both came off the bench to provide double-doubles for the Bucks. Ridnour had 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting, 10 assists and seven rebounds. Warrick went for 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting, 10 rebounds and a steal. Ridnour has 24 assists over his last three and makes more sense as a standard league add than Warrick, who's had a hard time contributing on a consistent basis.

o. Corey Brewer reminded us last night why most fantasy pundits called him a nice sleeper this year. He scored a game-high 22 points on 10-of-18 shooting, 13 rebounds and two steals. Considering that this is the first time in seven games that the Timberwolves topped the 90-point mark, it's a wonder how many more 20-point performances we'll see from Brewer going forward. He's an option in 12-team leagues, but probably not so much in leagues that run just 10 deep.

o. Carl Landry with a familiar stat-line -- 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting, 6-of-6 from the line, six rebounds and nothing else. It's like clockwork.

o. Nate Robinson was the lone bright spot for the Knicks in a laughable defeat to the Sacramento Kings. He dropped 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting, four three-pointers and five assists in 35 minutes. Better yet his +/- was a big fat zero, while Larry Hughes had a +/- of -25, while going for four points in 13 minutes. You may now drop Larry Hughes. Though, I have a feeling this isn't the last we've heard of him.

Lost and Found

o. Tyson Chandler was back in the lineup last night, pushing the Nazr Mohammed experience back to the bench. He had just five points and nine rebounds, but did manage to block six shots. Coming into this one Chandler had just 11 blocks on the season. He's a one-trick pony, and blocks typically aren't his trick -- rebounds are. I'm leaving Chandler on the wires until we see him continue to step up his game.

o. Kurt Thomas got active with his hands last night picking two steals and swatting three shots. He's averaging two of each over his last three and is a serious add in deep leagues.

Classified Adds

o. Al Thornton was awful last night, shooting 2-of-15 from the floor for just five points. It was tough watcning him as he was missing easy chip-shots under the basket, but the good news was that he remained aggressive. Keep him rostered for now.

o. Amir Johnson went off for another solid line -- 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting, eight rebounds, two steals and three blocks. This game was a blowout, so take it with a grain of salt. But I do know a few hoops experts who are pretty excited about Johnson. Deep league add for sure, but not necessarily a standard add.

o. Gerald Henderson had 15 points, four rebounds, two steals and a block in 23 minutes. Again, this one was a blowout, so don't buy into that line.

o. Jason Williams missed two key free throws in the final seconds of last nights game, as Orlando lost to the Heat by one. Fantasy owners, though, care not about the who won or lost. It's all about his line -- a game-high 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting, eight assists, four three-pointers, a steal and a turnover. Basically, he offered up Jameer Nelson value last night.

o. Tim Thomas -- one of those 'he does what he has to do to get by' kind of guys -- had a season-best 23 points, four treys, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. The Mavs ran away with this one in the fourth quarter, giving Thomas more of a chance to do what he does best -- just enough.

o. Roger Mason's line was bumped up thanks to the absence of Manu Ginobili -- 17 points, two three-pointers, six rebounds and five assists. Once Ginobili returns Mason will be good for his three-point shooting, but nothing else.

Tonight

o. Just two Thanksgiving games on the schedule -- Orlando at Atlanta and Chicago at Utah.

Lotto Line

1-2-3-15-21

o. There were a few worthy lotto liners last night, including Monta Ellis and Gerald Wallace, but I have to give it to Marcus Camby. He posted 15 points, 21 rebounds, three steals, two blocks and a three-pointer. I suppose Camby is just filling up the box scores so that when he misses 4-to-6 weeks in January we can all look back and remember when he pulled down 39 rebounds in consecutive games. Ah, the good ol' days.

Have a great Thanksgiving holiday!

Nets Keep Streak Alive; Eric Gordon Back, Ben Gordon Out originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warriors Need Just Six to Drop the Mavs

Tom Lorenzo — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

Don Nelson missed a pretty sick game last night due to his battle with pneumonia. The Warriors, under Keith Smart's tutelage, beat the Mavs 111-103. Only six Warriors saw action, with Monta Ellis, Anthony Morrow and Vladimir Radmanovic playing all 48 minutes. Ellis led the way with a game-high 37 points, eight assists, four steals and, unfortunately, 11 turnovers.

Anthony Morrow scored 20-plus points for the second straight game going for 27 on 9-of-16 shooting, nine rebounds, three steals and six three-pointers. I can't stress enough how undervalued Morrow is. I'm sure you can tell as I can't seem to stop talking about this guy? Radmanovic is a nice deep league add right now as he double-doubled for the first time this season -- 14 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and two three-pointers. I don't think he's quite add-able in standard leagues, as I can easily stop talking about him. But if he keeps playing 40-plus minutes per game, that might change things. Don Nelson should be back on Saturday. The best I can say is, "we'll see."

Also In the Headlines

o. Elton Brand left last night's game early after injuring his hamstring. It's probably for the best, after he went just 1-of-9 from the floor and ended the night with four points and seven rebounds. Considering how well he's been plying of late, hopefully this injury won't keep him out much longer.

o. Wizards owner Abe Polin died yesterday at the age of 85. I suppose the story-line here is that after Gilbert Anrenas and Brandon Haywood "exchanged words" through the press, the Wizards pulled together and defeated the 76ers 108-107. Antawn Jamison led the way with 32 points and 14 rebounds.

o. Caron Butler sat out last night due to a sore ankle. He's day-to-day, so we'll take a look at his status going into the weekend.

o. With Jeff Foster back in the starting lineup, Roy Hibbert came off the bench for just 13 minutes scoring eight points and grabbing three rebounds. The good news is that it seems as if Hibbert will be in the starting lineup on Wednesday night against the Clippers. Jeff Foster should never be the reason why you bail on a player, so keep Hibbert in your lineup. I'm sure if you looked at Foster's fantasy team he probably started Hibbert last night.

o. Chris Douglas-Roberts was not having any of it last night. Really, he was way off -- four points on 1-of-6 shooting, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 29 minutes. Uh-oh, could it be that the return of Courtney Lee has gotten to CDR? How about we consider this one a lost cause from the opening tip. The Nuggets came into this game having won 15 straight home games, while the Nets had no business at 0-13 heading into Denver and opening up their offense. Don't judge CDR on this one. If it becomes a trend, yeah, we can start worrying.

o. Nate Robinson outplayed Larry Hughes once again last night. Robinson scored 15 points on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc, while Hughes had just six points and three steals in 22 minutes. Tough game to read, though, with the Lakers ending it early in the 3rd quarter. Robinson and Hughes both look like options right now, though I'm starting to lean toward Robinson.

Lost and Found

o. Samuel Dalembert picked up the slack last night with a 12-point, nine-rebound, four-block performance. It's hard to go wild over Sammy D, especially since he hadn't blocked a single shot in the three games prior. I give him props on the performance last night, but don't see this lasting.

o. Troy Murphy had two blocks last night, marking the first time since October 30 that he blocked a shot. Considering that he's still working his way back from injury, you have to be pleased by his two swats.

o. The Warriors were running like thieves, picking up 15 steals against the Mavs.

o. Drew Gooden blocked three shots and went for 14 points and 12 rebounds against the Warriors. That's eight blocks over the last five games. Gooden is most certainly a universal add.

o. Nene Hilario had five steals and a block, while his ~~roommate~~ teammate Kenyon Martin recorded four steals and a block. The Nuggets are in for a huge week, and this is just the beginning. They have three more -- at Minnesota, followed by home games against New York and Minnesota.

Classified Adds

o. Jason Smith showed a bit of what he could do against the Wizards -- 14 points, three rebounds, a three, a steal and and two blocks. Smith is a sweet-shooting big, and if Brand misses time he could play a bigger role in the 76ers offense.

o. Nick Young got the start at the shooting guard with Mike Miller out for the month. Young was back to his old self, scoring a season-best 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting with two threes. We know that Young can score the ball, so this comes as no surprise. No much else in his fantasy game going on in the non-scoring categories, but he's a nice scoring option if he continues to get the burn. I initially thought that Randy Foye would get some minutes, but if Young continues to play at this level it might not be good news for Foye owners.

o. Andray Blatche came off the bench for 14 points, five rebounds, a steal and a block in 27 minutes. Considering that the Wizards were without Caron Butler, this doesn't necessarily mean that Blatce is back. When both Butler and Jamison are healthy, Blatche is averaging just 16 minutes per game.

o. Dahntay Jones came off the bench to play 27 minutes last night, scoring 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting and dishing four dimes. For the first time this season, Jones failed to record a rebound, block or steal in a game. He also didn't reach double-digit shot attempts for the first time since the second game of the season. I still think he has value. Don't bail on Jones just yet. Wait to see how he responds on Wednesday night before making the move to cut or bench him.

o. Marco Belinelli returned to action after missing Sunday's game against the Magic with a groin injury. He looked fairly good, scoring 11 points with three assists, a three and a steal. Eight of his 11 points, however, came from the free-throw line. He's still worth keeping an eye on, though, as he can get hot from beyond the arc.

o. Jarrett Jack was highly efficient last night -- 18 points on 7-of-7 shooting, 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, six assists, three rebounds, a steal and just one turnover in 29 minutes. As I said earlier, Jack is starting to come on strong and should be added in deep leagues.

o. Courtney Lee, as we know, returned to action last night. He had just seven points but did record six steals. I picked him up before the game. I 'm pretty confident that Lee is going to be a fantasy factor going forward.

o. I think we saw the real Serge Ibaka last night -- seven points, five rebounds, a block and a steal in 21 minutes. The one thing worth noting, though, is that he really has pushed Etan Thomas further down the bench. Hold off on both players.

Tonight

o. Nearly a full slate of games Wednesday, with 12 on the schedule. You'll have more than enough options to choose from.

o. Check in on the status of both Elton Brand and Shawn Marion as we head closer to game time.

o. Out for tonight are Shaquille O'Neal, Mike Dunleavy and Manu Ginobili.

o. Michael Redd is once again active, but I'm not interested just yet.

Lotto Line

1-3-4-5-34

o. The paperwork hasn't been officially filed, but Kobe Bryant owns the Knicks. He won the night with his 34 points on 14-of-20 shooting. Considering that this one was over early in the 3rd quarter, it was nice to see Kobe still on the court late into the 4th, tallying 40 minutes. He also chipped in with five rebounds, four assists, three steals and a three. Hard to compete with that 14-of-20 shooting performance, but what did you expect, seeing that Kobe has scored 30-plus points in 8-of-10 games against the Knicks. No moral victory for the Knicks in this one.

Warriors Need Just Six to Drop the Mavs originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Michael Redd Returns, Jennings Can't Buy One in Bucks' Loss

Tom Lorenzo — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

Michael Redd returned to action last night after missing the past nine games. Redd played just 11 minutes, scoring four points on 1-of-3 shooting from the floor and 1-of-6 from the free-throw line. Brandon Jennings wasn't much better shooting 6-of-21 from the floor and turning the ball over five times in 31 minutes. The most promising performance came from, you guessed it, Ersan Ilyasova -- 20 points, 8-of-13 from the floor, one three-pointer, four rebounds and four steals. Check and mate.

The Spurs out-rebounded the Bucks 46-29 and shot 51.3-percent from the floor. Tim Duncan was the leader of this joint with 24 points and 14 rebounds. Matt Bonner, yes that Matt Bonner, came alive for the first time in a few weeks with 23 points on 6-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc. Typical performance. He was on and off the waiver wires last season thanks to his three-point shooting. It's up to you, but I don't think he has standard league value.

Also In the Headlines

o. Tyreke Evans played last night despite him sitting out Saturday's game battling two separate injuries -- finger and ankle. He posted 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting, four rebounds, four assists, a steal and a three-pointer. He also had five turnovers in 38 minutes. All seems to be well with Evans. He should continue to shine as the Kings have three remaining home games this week against the Nets, Knicks and Hornets. Expect big numbers.

o. The Grizzlies shot 53.9-percent from the floor last night in their 11-point victory over the Kings. The starters were all on top of their game, scoring 89 of the team's 116 points. Give credit to Mike Conley who had his best game in two weeks with 11 points, seven assists, a steal and a block. The line wasn't overwhelming, but he had a few nice drives against Evans and found Zach Randolph on the baseline a few times. He looked more confident, which is a nice sign for a guy who's seemed pretty shaken most of the season.

o. Luol Deng ripped one. He dropped 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting against the Blazers. John Salmons chipped in with 22 points, yet Derrick Rose took a step in the wrong direction going for just 14 points and four assists. Unfortunately, this is the first of only two games for the Bulls this week. So, really it was in your best interest, looking back, to sit any and all of your Bulls. Rose and Joakim Noah included.

o. Andre Miller came off the bench for the second straight game. This time he responded with 16 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the free-throw line and five assists in 27 minutes. OK, I can live with that. Miller still isn't a must-start, however. The best case for starting Miller this week was that the Blazers play four times.

o. Greg Oden was a beast in the paint scoring 24 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field and 10-of-12 shooting from the line against the Bulls. He added 12 rebounds, two blocks and a healthy smile in 28 minutes. Can you believe that Oden, Noah, and Marc Gasol were all 10th round picks this year. Re-do!

o. Jonny Flynn brought the energy early on, going for 17 points, five assists, two threes and two steals. He really was one of the lone bright spots for the T-Wolves last night. Sure Al Jefferson's 13 points and 13 rebounds look nice on paper, but he also had eight turnovers and couldn't keep Marcus Camby from dominating the glass -- 18 rebounds for Camby.

o. Al Thornton led the Clippers once again with 31 points on 11-of-16 shooting, 10 rebounds and a perfect 9-of-9 from the free-throw line. He's averaging 21.8 points over his last five games, while shooting 58.8-percent. Ride the hot streak, is what some would say. Here, I have to agree with those 'some' people.

Lost and Found

o. Marc Gasol had two steals and four blocks. Wait, who's Pau Gasol?

o. Taj Gibson did his best Tyrus Thomas impression with three blocks and two steals against Portland. His 2-for-10 shooting performance wasn't much help, but the defense looks pretty good. Just don't expect to see five defensive stats from Gibson on a regular basis.

Classified Adds

o. Omri Casspi started out the week with a strong performance. He had 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, three rebounds, two steals and a trey. He was ejected in the fourth quarter -- a cheap call if you ask me -- which limited him down the stretch. A nice add, if you ask me.

o. Donte Greene saw an uptick in minutes since Jason Thompson picked up his fifth foul six minutes into the third quarter. Greene went for 11 points with two threes and a steal. With Casspi continuing to impress, I wouldn't bite on Greene in standard leagues. His performance for the time being will be dictated by Thompson finding himself in and out of foul trouble. Not necessarily something standard leaguers want to hear about a possible waiver add.

o. Martell Webster followed up his 21-point performance on Saturday with a dud last night -- six points on 3-of-10 shooting, four rebounds and an assist. Never bought into Webster, and last night he just reaffirmed my skepticism.

o. Sebastian Telfair had a strong game last night. He had 17 points, a steal and two three-pointers in 26 minutes. He was playing well enough for the Clips to keep Baron Davis glued to the bench. Considering Davis shot just 1-of-10 from the floor, I can't imagine there are going to be many more nights when Telfair outplays Davis.

Tonight

o. There are six games on the schedule for Tuesday night.

o. Golden State is in Dallas without head coach Don Nelson (pneumonia). Assistant coach Keith Smart will call the shots while Nelson is out. The Warriors still have just eight active players on their roster. Let's see how they respond under Smart on Tuesday night.

o. Indiana named Troy Murphy and Jeff Foster starters for tonight's game against the Raptors. I assume that Roy Hibbert and Brandon Rush will come off the bench with Dahntay Jones moving over to the shooting guard position. Let's see who gets the bulk of the minutes.

o. New Jersey is in Denver, where the Nuggets have won 15 in a row. mark this one down for another loss for the Nets.

o. Mehmet Okur is active for tonight's game against the Thunder. I don't expect much from him, as he'll more than likely be fatigued after missing a week with the flu.

o. The Knicks are in Los Angeles to take on the Lakers. Another moral victory for the Knicks?

Lotto Line

2-2-4-6-10

o. Man! I think I was most upset last night about the layup Baron Davis dropped with 8.5 seconds to go in last night's game. I really have no reason for rooting against the guy, but something about seeing an 0-fer from one of the Top 20 fantasy ballers just makes the game a tad more interesting. Nonetheless, Davis shot 1-of-10 from the floor ending the game with two points, six assists, four turnovers and two steals. Oh well, good for him for getting a bucket in the final moment of the game. More than I could say about myself.

Michael Redd Returns, Jennings Can't Buy One in Bucks' Loss originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Garnett Ends It Late; Kobe Ends It Early

Tom Lorenzo — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

After starting the game 1-for-10, Kevin Garnett finished strong hitting four of his last five field goal attempts, including the game winner in overtime. Paul Pierce lead the way for the Celtics scoring 33 points, while Rajon Rondo just missed posting a triple-double going for 14 points, nine rebounds, 10 assists and four steals.

The Knicks with another one of those famed moral victories, were led by Al Harrington's 30 points off the bench and David Lee's 22 points and 15 rebounds. The Knicks are 3-10 on the season, yet they lead the league with seven moral victories -- two more than the New Jersey Nets, yet almost as many as my fantasy football team.

Also In the Headlines

o. The Lakers ended their game with the Thunder early, taking a 57-34 lead into halftime. So we'll let Lamar Odom's two-point, five-rebound performance slide. Same goes for Ron Artest who went for just seven and seven. It was worth sticking around, however, to watch Shannon Brown get up for a few dunks and a couple of fastbreak rundowns -- which both resulted in fouls. But he did make Ryan Bowen look like he wanted nothing to do with the basketball as he "went up" against Brown on a fastbreak. It was rather funny and awkward at the same time.

o. Jason Williams posted his best line since opening night going for 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, five rebounds, three assists, two steals, zero turnovers and two three-pointers. A nice, solid, efficient line. Again, he won't replace Jameer Nelson's productivity, but he adds value and that's more than we can ask from some of the other options out there -- Chris Duhon?

o. Marco Belinelli sat out Sunday's game with a sore groin. This after he had made the case for being a standard-league add. I wouldn't bite on DeMar DeRozan, though, since Coach Triano has remained focused on keeping the rookie on a 20-22 minute leash. The player worth looking at is Jarrett Jack who responded on Sunday afternoon with eight points, 11 assists, two threes, a steal and zero turnovers in 32 minutes.

o. Dahntay Jones hasn't lost a beat since Troy Murphy returned to the lineup on Friday. One Sunday Jones led the Pacers in scoring with 19 points to go along with four rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks. Murphy eventually will return back to the starting lineup, but thanks to the versatility of Jones he can play three positions, meaning that the Pacers will find a way to get him involved. And let's not get too excited about Mike Dunleavy Jr. returning this Wednesday. He's not quite relevant enough.

o. I had a good feeling about Marcus Thornton when Chris Paul went down. Right now he's most certainly the guy to watch in New Orleans. Last night he posted an man's man line -- 24 points, 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc, and three steals. His scoring abilities are no joke. His peripherals? That's another story. But Thornton may end up having an Eric Gordon type of rookie season and find himself in the starting lineup in no time. The only problem is that the Hornets play just seven games over the next three weeks, which is the fewest in the NBA.

o. Udonis Haslem returned to action, posting 14 points, eight rebounds and a block against the Hornets. I'd tell you it's safe to get him back into your lineup, but the Heat play a fairly tough three-game schedule this week -- at Orlando and home to Washington and Boston.

Lost and Found

o. Not much defense to speak of in Orlando-Toronto game Sunday. The Magic failed to record a single block and picked up just three steals. The Raptors weren't much better going for four steals and two blocks. Lately, Toronto has been, as coach Jay Triano put it, a "fair-weather" defensive team allowing 112.2 points per game over their last four.

o. Jared Dudley kept up his steals/threes output last night with two picks and a trey. At least you know what you're getting with Dudley.

o. The Thunder did at least one thing better than the Lakers -- block shots. Serge Ibaka led the way five as Oklahoma City out-blocked the Los Angeles 15 to six.

Classified Adds

o. Amir Johnson looks like he might be ready to breakout a little. And by that I mean provide deep league value. On Sunday Johnson posted 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting, eight rebounds and two steals. Granted, the minutes were there for Johnson after Andrea Bargnani fouled out in just 26 minutes. But thanks to the upside he provides on defense and his efficient, garbage-point offensive game you can justify adding him in any leagues that run 14 or deeper.

o. Kendrick Perkins remains under-owned at just 54-percent in Fleaflicker leagues. Perk posted his second double-double in four games with 16 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots. Considering that Rasheed Wallace's game is such a mess right now, Perkins is taking the extra minutes and making the most of them.

o. Nazr Mohammed filled in nicely for an injured Tyson Chandler on Sunday -- 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks in 18 minutes. Chandler's listed as day-to-day, and I'll admit I'm not necessarily a huge Mohammed fan, so I'm not going to bite on this one.

o. Leandro Barbosa scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting with three rebounds, three assists, a three-pointer and a steal last night. He's been a huge disappointment this season and already owners are starting to cut-bait. I would keep an eye on him because he's going to catch fire at some point. Put him on your "watch list" and monitor his progress. He's just too valuable to let slide to someone else.

o. Serge Ibaka posted career-bests across the board with 11 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks in 32 minutes. Again, it all came in a blowout game, but his progress is certainly worth noting. He might have earned himself a few more minutes off the bench and if he can put a nice string of games together he could be a solid add in deep leagues. He got scooped up early last night in my 30-team league. That seems about right.

Tonight

o. Just four games on the schedule -- SAC @ MEM, MIL @ SAS, CHI @ POR, and MIN @ LAC.

o. The Bulls play the first of their two games this week in Portland on Monday. Weekly leaguers if you can still change your lineup I would get all but Bulls not named Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah out of my lineup.

o. As of Sunday night Tyreke Evans was still listed as day-to-day.

o. Andre Miller is likely to come off the bench once again. See how he responds and watch Martell Webster to see if he can get on a nice roll.

o. Manu Ginobili is out tonight, while Tony Parker is expected to go.

Lotto Line

2-3-7-11-19

o. Nate Robinson worked his way back into Mike D'Antoni's good graces on Sunday. Coach gave him a second chance playing him 27 minutes after benching him for the second half of Saturday's game for shooting at the wrong basket. Robinson didn't disappoint, going for 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting with three treys and two blocked shots. He's still behind Larry Hughes on the depth charts, but he shoots enough and is active enough on defense that he can provide a solid returns coming off the bench.

Garnett Ends It Late; Kobe Ends It Early originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who's Got Next: Turning to Hughes

Tom Lorenzo — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Waiver Wire, NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Who's Got Next is a weekly look at some of the top players widely available on the waiver wires.

Larry Hughes owners let out a sigh of relief on Friday when news dropped that the Knicks were no longer interested in signing Allen Iverson. It seemed to me that we would have seen his name on a majority of waiver wires come Saturday morning if the Knicks did happen to pull the trigger on Iverson. And given that fact that Hughes has been stellar of late, providing 14.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.3 treys over his last ten, losing his production would have been disappointing. Now, though, with Nate Robinson on the Mike D'Antoni's s-list, Hughes should start getting a serious look and his ownership percentage should see an increase into the upper-80s, possibly the 90s.

What I'm getting at is, go pick up Larry Hughes. The Knicks play four times this week, and I suspect Hughes to get the bulk of the minutes at the 'two' going forward.

Looking at the schedule for Week Five, here are a few guys available on most waiver wires who are worth giving a look.

Kenyon Martin, PF, Nuggets -- K-Mart is owned in just 55% of Yahoo! leagues and 31% of FleaFlicker leagues. Over his last three he's posted 13 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 0.7 steals and 1.3 blocks. This week the Nuggets have arguably the easiest schedule in the league -- NJN, @MIN, NYK, and MIN. Minnesota and New York are currently 29th and 30th in the league, respectively, in rebounds allowed per game. The Nets aren't too far ahead at 25th in the league giving up 44.6 rebounds per game. Martin could prove to be quite useful this week.

Rasual Butler, SG, Clippers -- Ricky Davis started at the two-guard position on Friday night, but it was Butler who cleaned up -- 27 points on 8-of-15 shooting, four three-pointers, three rebounds and two assists. Davis looked awful, which is why he logged a mere 10 minutes and was pulled for good early on in the third quarter. While the Clips wait for Eric Gordon to return, I think they'll look to Butler to take the bulk of the minutes at the 'two'. The Clips get four this week -- MIN, @IND, @DET, MEM -- giving Butler a chance to put up some nice lines.

Ersan Ilyasova, F, Bucks -- Everyone has Ilyasova fever! As they should. In his last five he's given his owners 13.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 0.8 blocks and 2.0 threes. He also shot 92.8-percent from the free-throw line making 2.6 attempts per game during that span. The Bucks have four this week, they're shorthanded right now and Ilyasova remains in the starting lineup. There you have it in 140 characters or less.

Rudy Fernandez, SG, Blazers -- The extra minutes in Portland seem to belong to Rudy Fernandez. Done deal. In his last three he's played 32.7 minutes per, posting 14.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 3.3 steals and 2.3 three-pointers. Those steals and threes are worth the add alone. Portland has Chicago, New Jersey, Memphis and Utah. The Bulls, Jazz, and Grizzlies are all allowing 7-plus threes per game, while the Nets are giving up 8.8 steals per game on the season. But if I can't sway you, maybe Rudy can make the case for himself -- vote for me! That never gets old, does it?

Anthony Morrow, SG/SF, Warriors -- I'm still rockin' Morrow in most of my leagues. After Don Nelson let him run on Friday night for 48 minutes I'm starting to feel more comfortable about my choice to hang onto him -- 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting, four threes, six rebounds and two steals on Friday night. He's shooting 52.9-percent from the floor, 52.5-percent from beyond the three-point line, and 87.5-percent from the free-throw line on the season. It's a beautiful thing. The Warriors have three games this week and I expect to see Nelson stick with Morrow until his magic 8-ball tells him otherwise.

Marco Belinelli, SG, Raptors -- Prior to Friday night, Belinelli had posted four straight double-figure scoring lines, averaging 2.7 threes over that span. He had been terrific coming off the bench, and with four games this week -- IND, @CHA, @BOS, PHO -- he's certainly worth a flier. Those Phoenix and Indy games might return nice lines, at the very least.

Derek Fisher, PG, Lakers -- This one is strictly based on the Lakers schedule -- NYK, @GSW, NJN -- three teams that yield a rather favorable number of three-pointers, steals, rebounds, and a high number of free-throw attempts. Fisher is no sure thing, but with a schedule like that and a number of ailing point guards he could be a deep league flier this week.

Jared Dudley, F, Suns -- He's having quite the month -- 10.4 points, 1.3 steals, 2.0 three-pointers, and a 48.7 field-goal percentage in just 22 minutes. Only one game all season has Dudley not posted at least one steal and in just three games was he unable to his a three-pointer. Phoenix has MEM, @MIN, and @TOR this week. Toronto has allowed 115.7 points per game over their last three and Minny and Memphis sit in the bottom three in steals allowed per game. Based on the matchups, I would give Dudley a look this week if you're in need of steals and threes.

Who's Got Next: Turning to Hughes originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Home Delivery: Pau Gasol's Big Night

Tom Lorenzo — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

Kobe Bryant told Craig Sager last night that is was good to have Pau Gasol back. I couldn't have said it any better. Gasol was indeed back, and back in a big way -- game-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting, 13 rebounds and a blocked shot. The early effects of Gasol returning played out in the frontcourt: Andrew Bynum went for 11 points and eight rebounds in 25 minutes, while Lamar Odom came off the bench to play 25 minutes and put up 11 points and eight rebounds. A thoughtful gesture, considering Gasol has played eight full seasons, prior to this one, and missed the first 11 games before making his return. It was definitely his night.

The NBA's leading rebounder, Joakim Noah, pulled down 15 boards to go along with 12 points, four steals and two blocks. He's having a great season. The same can't be said for Derrick Rose, though he did come on last night and score 20 points and dish six dimes. Let's hope this gets him going.

Also In the Headlines

o. If you were watching the Suns-Hornets game last night then you heard the big news: ~~Men of a Certain Age debuts on December 7~~ David Aldridge reported during a timeout in the second quarter that the Knicks and Allen Iverson are close to a deal and something "could happen" this weekend. I wouldn't be shocked. Leave it to Reggie Miller to be the voice of reason in all of this when he said that Iverson is going to take away from the development of the young guards. Really though, that's something that should only trouble Knicks fans and those who own Chris Duhon, Toney Douglas, Nate Robinson, Larry Hughes (not young) and even Wilson Chandler. We'll cross that bridge when we get there, but as I mentioned yesterday Iverson should be a target on the wires if/when the news breaks.

o. Andrew Bogut is down and out once again. We learned yesterday that he is going to miss 2-to-4 weeks thanks to a strained leg. Tough break. Bogut was starting to look like he was finally getting his game back on track. As a filler, if you put a gin to my head I would take Kurt Thomas over Dan Gadzuric. If there is not gun involved, I'll opt for neither. I think it's going to be guys like Hakim Warrick and Ersan Ilyasova who are going to step it up. And besides, there are enough good centers still available on the wires that you don't have to dip into either Thomas or Gadzuric.

o. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili sat out last night's game against the Jazz. Parker for his ankle and Ginobili because of a strained groin. Ginobili is supposedly out for the next week or so, but it wouldn't surprise me to see him take his time and wait until he's 100-percent before returning. Parker, on the other hand, is day-to-day. Make sure you keep an eye on his status heading into Saturday's game against the Wizards.

o. Mehmet Okur sat out for the second straight game with the flu. The Jazz don't play again until Saturday night and all indications are that he'll play. So he should be a safe play this weekend. All you Kyrylo Fesenko fans out there have been warned.

o. Paul Millsap played awfully well alongside Carlos Boozer last night -- 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting, seven rebounds and a block. Still not sure that he's consistent enough to start on a nightly basis. Unless, of course, there's an injury in the frontcourt or Utah pulls a favorable matchup.

o. Darren Collison continues to plug away as the starting point guard for the Hornets -- 15 points on 4-of-15 shooting, five rebounds, five assists, a three and a steal. So, essentially he posted what Chris Paul would have given you... in the first half.

o. David West struggled with just six points, four rebounds and five assists. He's scored in single-digits in two out of the three games since Chris Paul went down. Hmm. Something to think about, right?

Lost and Found

o. Theo Ratliff's contract is back in play, as he blocked three shots in 13 minutes against the Jazz last evening. Actually, it's been a while since he's been known for anything other than his contract. He's stepping out.

o. Darius Songalia had three steals and a block in 24 minutes. I don't know about adding him, but if for some reason David West were to go down he might be a solid add -- not now, though.

Classified Adds

o. Eric Maynor went from an intriguing add to a dud overnight. He was held scoreless last night in 17 minutes. This after three straight strong showings. Given the superb play of Ronnie Brewer, Sloan's man-crush on Wesley Matthews, strong showings by both Paul Millsap and Andrei Kirilenko and the return this weekend of Mehmet Okur, we might have to shelve Maynor for the time being.

o. George Hill dropped double-figures in his fifth straight game -- 17 points on 7-of-17 shooting, a three and two assists. Again, Parker missed last night's game, which allowed Hill to log 30 minutes in his absence. Once Parker returns, possibly this weekend, Hill won't be much of a fantasy contributor.

o. Jared Dudley went 5-of-6 from beyond the arc and finished last night's game against the Hornets with 17 points, five rebounds and two steals. Dudley has been a nice contributor from the three-point line and in the steals category. The Suns have a fairly favorable three-game schedule next week, so look to Dudley if you need more treys and picks.

o. Devin Brown had 19 points, two threes, six rebounds and five assists starting at the two-guard for the Hornets, but I still like Marcus Thornton better. The rookie came off the bench to score 19 points in 20 minutes. Brown might be the "safer" bet right now since he's starting and getting more minutes -- for now -- but I wouldn't count out Thornton. He's the guy to add in deeper leagues as far as I'm concerned.

Tonight

o. There are 10 games on the schedule for Friday night.

o. LeBron James is probable after injuring his wrist on Wednesday night and Shaquille O'Neal is "out" against the Pacers.

o. I don't expect to see Marcus Camby on the court as the Clippers take on the Nuggets.

o. Raja Bell will likely suit-up again as the Warriors remain shorthanded. I still wouldn't put him in your lineup, since all it will take is a minor tweak for him to remain on the bench.

o. The Bobcats will be without Tyson Chandler in Milwaukee.

o. The Celtics and the Magic get together in Boston. This should be a good one.

Lotto Line

7-11-13-25-36

o. Peja Stojakovic looked 28 years young again last night. He made 7-of-11 three-pointers, scoring 25 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in 36 minutes. Oh to be young again.

Home Delivery: Pau Gasol's Big Night originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Return of Eddy Curry, Antawn Jamison and ... Raja Bell?

Tom Lorenzo — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

The Knicks bench came up big as they erased a 19-point deficit in the second-half on their way to picking up their second victory of the season. Al Harrington led the way with 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while Larry Hughes added 22 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Hughes has trumped both Nate Robinson and Toney Douglas at the 'two' and continues to look like a safe add.

Danilo Gallinari's big goose egg was overshadowed -- literally? -- by the return of every Knick fan's favorite big man, Eddy Curry. Big Slacks had 10 points and four rebounds in 12 minutes coming off the bench. Mike Breem said it best when he insinuated that the Knicks were going to start giving Curry more playing time in order to showcase his "talents" with the hopes that someone will bite on his contract. That says a lot, doesn't it?

For the Pacers it was Danny Granger who led the way with 33 points on 12-of-18 shooting and five treys. He wasn't very helpful in the second half, scoring just three of his 33 in the final two quarters.

Also In the Headlines

o. The rumors are swirling. It seems that the Knicks are seriously pursuing Allen Iverson as a free agent for the remainder of the season. I'm all ears. The Knicks have to know that Allen Iverson expects to play and play often, meaning they are likely to promise him minutes. I would immediately add Iverson if he signs in New York. Have you seen the way Larry Hughes has played under Mike D'Antoni? There might not be enough shots to go around, but I imagine that Iverson will make sure he gets his.

o. Remember when we were told that Raja Bell would have season-ending surgery on his wrist? Well, last night he scored 11 points and hit three treys in 23 minutes. Wait, what? Bell played due to the fact that the Warriors had just seven active players the night prior. He's still supposedly going to have surgery on his wrist, so I suspect we won't see him in uniform much longer.

o. Antawn Jamison and Randy Foye returned to action last night against the Cavs. Jamison looked like he was trying to make up for lost time. He went for a team-high 31 points on 12-of-22 shooting with 10 rebounds, two threes and a steal. Foye, however, played just four minutes and looks like he's drop-able now, especially with the way Earl Boykins is playing.

o. Tony Parker missed last night's contest against the Mavs thanks to the left ankle sprain he suffered on November 6. He's listed as day-to-day and questionable for Thursday night's game against the Jazz. Not to be outdone, Manu Ginobili left last night's game with a groin injury. As of now, It would seem that Manu is out for Thursday night's game. In that case, Roger Mason would get the start and should be considered for owners in need.

o. Marcus Camby left late in the first quarter last night with a lower back contusion. Craig Smith and DeAndre Jordan got extra minutes in his absence. Smith led the way with 12 points and four rebounds. Neither is a must-add, but depending on how long Camby is out it's worth following to see if one of these young bigs steps forward and starts showing some consistency.

o. In other injury news, Udonis Haslem missed last nights game with a sore shoulder. He should be ready to go for the weekend.

o. Rashard Lewis posted a near triple-double, in just his second game since returning from a 10-game suspension -- 17 points, 10 rebound, nine assists, two threes and two steals. And you took him in the fourth round, didn't you?

o. Elton Brand cares not for your rumors! The 30-year old power forward had a season-best 19 points and 11 rebounds in a two-point victory over the Bobcats. He also added six blocks and three steals, including a block on the first play of the game and a key deflection at the end of regulation to seal the victory for the 76ers. After speculation that he would come off the bench last night, Brand found himself in the starting lineup, playing nearly 42 minutes. This is a great sign, but I'd still like to see more from EB before I raise the roof in his honor.

o. Trevor Ariza had 18 points and four three-pointers against the T-Wolves, However, he shot 6-of-19 from the floor and is now shooting just 37-percent on the season. It's starting to become worrisome. Especially when you consider that he's taking 16.5 FGA per game.

o. Luis Scola doubled-up last night with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Some impatient owners have already bailed on Scola. I think that's a mistake. If he's available on your wire you should seriously consider making the move.

o. Chris Douglas-Roberts posted a career-high in points for the second straight game. He had 31 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and three steals. He's a universal add, even with Devin Harris and Courtney Lee looking to return to action this weekend. CDR has the confidence that fantasy owners love to see in a scoring two-guard. He is not messing around right now.

Lost and Found

o. Delonte West tallied three blocks and two steals in a losing effort. It's till hard to own West right now, but the defensive effort was certainly there and for that he gets a mention.

o. After a bit of a steals drought, Chuck Hayes picked up four more last night. I still think he's worth owning, if only for his defense and the fact that he's center eligibile.

Classified Adds

o. J.J. Hickson was quiet last night with just six points and two rebounds in 20 minutes. A bit of a disappointment, after he went for 18 or more points over the last three. It was second-year big Darnell Jackson who provided the spark -- 10 points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes. Still, Hickson is the better option at this point. Last night the Cavs were absolutely flat in the second-half blowing a 17-point lead, so don't read much into Hickson's performance.

o. James Harden had a career-best 24 points, hitting six three-pointers and grabbing three rebounds in 31 minutes. This is a great sign for the rookie, however it came in a blowout loss in which no Oklahoma City starter played more than 27 minutes. Still, he's worth keeping an eye on.

o. Jason Williams debuted in his new role as the starting point guard of the Orlando Magic with a 4-point, 5-assist and 4-rebound performance against the Thunder. Again, this game turned into a blowout early, but Williams looks like he can be a nice short-term option at the point.

o. Flip Murray followed up his career-best 31-point performance with a nine-point showing against the 76ers. I think he just fell off our radar screen, no?

o. Corey Maggette dropped 20-plus points for the fourth time in his last five games. That Stephen Jackson trade seems to be working out in his favor. You would be well-advised to add Maggette right now.

o. Ramon Sessions, ladies and gentlemen. Now this is the Ramon Sessions we've all come to love and know. Last night he dropped 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting with five assists and three steals. He's widely available in 70-percent of Feaflicker and Yahoo! leagues. Jameer Nelson and Chris Paul owners, I hope you're paying attention. He's had four solid games in a row. We might see him get into a little groove here.

o. Jamaal Tinsley made his Grizzlies debut last night. In just six minutes he was held scoreless, but Mike Conley wasn't much better in his 15 minutes on the court -- one point, two assists and two rebounds. it seems to me that there is an opening in Memphis and Tinsley might be in line to take over as the starter. It might take some time, but keep an eye on Tinsley.

o. Carlos DelFino had a season-high 21 points and four three-pointers in 39 minutes. He's a bit too inconsistent for me, however. Remember that this was against the winless New Jersey Nets. I don't see him as a must-add.

o. Terrence Williams double-doubled with 20 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. Williams is a streaky scorer, but he has the ability to put up a solid line when his game is on. Deep leagues should be taking a shot on him.

o. Marco Belinelli could care less that Hedo Turkoglu was active last night. Belinelli dropped 19 points on the Jazz with two three-pointers and four rebounds. He's starting to put his fellow Italian Danilo Gallinari to shame. Belinelli has put up 15.7 points and 2.7 threes over his last four. I'm buying on Belinelli right now in my 12-team leagues.

o. Eric Maynor played some two-guard last night alongside Deron Williams. He had 15 points, six assists, a block and a steal. Maynor scored 11 of his 15 in the fourth quarter and looks like he might be making a case to see 20-25 minutes per game. I have a lot of faith in Maynor. Moreso than Wesley Matthews, for sure. If Maynor starts getting legit playing time he could be a nice waiver add.

o. Drew Gooden started at center yet again with Erick Dampier still sidelined. In an overtime victory against the Spurs, Gooden had 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting with 11 rebounds and three blocked shots. This is three straight double-doubles for Gooden and it looks as if the starting gig is his, even when Dampier returns.

Tonight

o. There are just three games on the schedule Thursday night -- Hornets at Suns, Jazz at Spurs, and Bulls at Lakers.

o. Finally, we'll get to see Pau Gasol in action as he is scheduled to make his season debut on Thursday night against the Bulls.

o. I'm sure TNT isn't happy that they have to market the Suns-Hornets game as a battle between Steve Nash and Darren Collison, but what can you do.

o. Utah plays in San Antonio. Mehmet Okur sat out Wednesday night with the flu and will more than likely miss Thursday night's game.

Lotto Line

1-12-15-29-41

o. Dirk Nowitzki is no joke this season. He scored a season-high 41 points on 15-of-29 shooting with 12 rebounds and one three-pointer. There's not much more you can say about his performance. Best line of the night.

The Return of Eddy Curry, Antawn Jamison and ... Raja Bell? originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Home Delivery: The Magnificent Seven

Tom Lorenzo — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

The first thing I thought of while watching the Warriors-Cavs game was: The Seven Samurai. And the tag-line for the film is nearly perfect -- "The Seven Warriors Who Became the Seven National Heroes of a Small Town." OK, so maybe we can take out "national heroes of a small town" and replace those words with "fantasy contributors for one evening."

Last night the Warriors went into Cleveland with just seven active players. Each, however, posted double-digit point totals, with Monta Ellis leading the way -- 23 points, eight assists, and three steals. Anthony Morrow looked pretty good himself, dropping 18 points and hitting four of his seven three-point attempts. All in all, you can't go wrong this week adding Morrow, Anthony Randolph, Stephen Curry or Corey Maggette. I'm still not sold on Mikki Moore or Vladimir Radmanovic, but I'm sure that will change over time.

Also In the Headlines

o. I touched on the Jameer Nelson injury yesterday. You can read more about it in my 'spin' post.

o. What groin injury? Kobe Bryant was on fire last night dropping a 40-spot on the Pistons. He made 17-of-29 field-goal attempts and picked up five rebounds, five assists and three steals.

o. Brook Lopez was a beast. He had 26 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks last night against the Pacers. Great. However, he ended up shooting just 10-of-27 from the floor. This was a concern of mine heading into the season, that Lopez would be a more focal point in the offense and with that his FG% would take a hit. In my mind, though, as long as he gets over 50-percent, we're good.

o. J.J. Hickson had some night. He posted a career-high 21 points on a whopping 9-of-9 shooting, nine rebounds, a steal and a block. Nice add. Hickson has upped his scoring in three straight games, and with Anderson Varejao possibly missing more time due to a hip contusion you should be able to ride Hickson for a while.

o. The Hornets had a balanced attack in their victory over the Clippers last night. Darren Collison, filling in for Chris Paul, had what you would call a "Darren Collison" game -- 12 points, six assists and a steal in 24 minutes. I would still keep him active. It's too early to bail.

o. Steve Nash was in a giving mood last night as he dished 16 dimes against the Rockets. Aaron Brooks tried to match him, but fell short while posting a season-high 13 assists.

o. J.R. Smith announced he was back in a big way. Smith dropped 29 points in just his fourth game of the season. Along the way he added five three-pointers, which is what he does best.

o. Donte Greene got the start with Andres Nocioni shelved due to a sore hip. Greene went off for a career-best 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting and five rebounds. If you followed Greene during his brief stint at Syracuse then you know this kid has it in him to put up numbers like this. He's still young, a bit too raw, and not consistent enough to trust as an add in standard leagues, but if Nocioni gets moved or misses more time that of course might change everything.

o. Say what you will, but I'm still banking on Tyreke Evans being the top fantasy rookie this year. He had another terrific game last night scoring 20 points with four rebounds, four assists, two steals and three blocks. He's also starting to pick up his FG%, shooting nearly 48-percent over his last four games. He's the best rook right now as far as I'm concerned.

o. John Salmons found that golden touch, yet again. He had 23 points, five rebounds and four steals against the Kings. But more importantly he shot 9-of-18 from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. That's a good sign. I still think you should buy-low on him.

Lost and Found

o. Dahntay Jones picked up three steals and a block against the Nets to go along with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists. Careful, though. With Troy Murphy back in practice on Monday night, we may see Jones coming off the bench by the end of the week.

o. Thabo Sefolosha had four steals against the Heat. That's makes it eight out of the last nine games in which he picked at least one steal. That's really why you own Sefolosha, isn't it?

o. Trevor Ariza had three steals and three treys, though he shot just 8-of-21 from the floor. Ariza is once again shooting below 40-percent from the field. That is not sexy.

o. I have to give Nene Hilario props for his four steals and four blocks. He wins the defensive player of the evening award. A very prestigious award, I might add.

Classified Adds

o. I'm still amazed that Roy Hibbert is available in 60-percent of FleaFlicker leagues and 35-percent of Yahoo! leagues. Last night Hibbert had the touch against the Nets. He played the glass and made a few impressive pivot moves against Brook Lopez on his way to 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting with 10 rebounds and three blocks. I'm starting to think that the center position it less scarce than well all initially thought. Granted, the multiple position eligibility given to most power forwards are helping. But I'm still puzzled as to why Hibbert isn't getting more play.

o. Chris Douglas-Roberts was another guy I suggested in my weekly adds piece. Not to pat myself on the back, but he had career-highs in points, rebounds and field-goal attempts -- 26 points on 11-of-25 shooting with 12 rebounds and three assists. CDR took over the offense at times and played a bit of a one-man game driving into the paint and playing the glass. He's the lead guard right now in New Jersey with Devin Harris still out. Definitely worth an add.

o. Carl Landry is another hot name right now on the waiver wires. Landry was fresh, coming off the bench to add 27 points on 13-of-18 shooting and nine rebounds in 30 minutes. That's four 20-point performances in his last seven. And we're talking about an efficient scorer here. He's shot above 66-percent from the floor in six of his last eight and is shooting 58-percent on the season.

o. Will Bynum went for 24 points, four rebounds, six assists, two steals, a block and 9-of-12 shooting from the floor against the Lakers. He continues to play like a universal add.

o. Al Thornton continues to make me eat my words. Another great game for Thornton last night against the Hornets -- 30 points on 12-of-17 shooting and four rebounds. I still think he adds little fantasy value, other than a recent string of plus-scoring performances, but you now know you have another option if you're shopping for points.

o. DeMar DeRozan? Sonny Weems? Marco Belinelli? Which one? Each scored in double-figures and played at least 23 minutes last night against the Nuggets. DeRozan looked really impressive with his 17 points in just 23 minutes, but Belinelli was no slouch either draining three treys in 24 minutes on his way to scoring 16 points. I like the upside of DeRozan, but right now Belinelli is hitting threes like it's nobody's business -- 12 in his last four. If you had to choose one, go with Marco. Remember too, though, that Hedo Turkoglu missed last night's game, so extra shots and touches were there for all three.

Tonight

o. There are 12 games on the schedule tonight, so we'll have a lot to talk about Thursday morning.

o. Antawn Jamison and Randy Foye are scheduled to return to action Wednesday night, so keep an eye on the Wizards-Cavaliers game.

o. Golden State heads into Boston with seven active players after taking on the Cavs in Cleveland just 24 hours earlier. Wow. Good luck.

o. Philadelphia welcomes Charlotte to town. With the rumors that Elton Brand has been removed from the starting lineup, you might want to keep an eye on this one.

o. Jason Williams will make his debut in the starting lineup as the Magic welcome the Thunder to town.

o. The Heat and Hawks play in what could be the game of the evening. Both teams are fighting for first place in the Southeast.

Lotto Line

8-10-12-15-32

o. You've got to love when a big scoring stud like Carmelo Anthony goes out and drops 32 points in an efficient manner. Melo shot 8-of-10 from the line and 12-of-15 from the field. That's about as close to perfect of a shooting line as you'll get. Big ups to Mr. Anthony.

Home Delivery: The Magnificent Seven originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Home Delivery: Iverson Walking on Memphis, S-Jax Joining Charlotte

Tom Lorenzo — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:05:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

Well that was one busy Monday, wasn't it? And to think, we only had three games on the schedule.

Monday afternoon we learned that the Warriors had traded Stephen Jackson to the Bobcats for Raja Bell and Vladimir Radmanovic. The early fantasy implications on this one were on display Monday night as Jackson was in uniform and in the starting lineup for the Bobcats. He had a typical Jackson line: 13 points on 4-of-14 shooting, one three-pointer, nine rebounds, two assists, two steals and four turnovers. Some things remain the same.

The implications in Golden State won't necessarily be known until Tuesday night when the Warriors play the Cavaliers. Then again, it's never a given when you're talking about Don Nelson's rotation. One night Raja Bell might be in; the next he's out. Stay tuned.

Oh, yeah, and Allen Iverson and the Memphis Grizzlies parted ways. It might be safe to drop Iverson outright, unless of course the Knicks come to the rescue. Isn't that something the old regime would have done?

Also In the Headlines

o. Rashard Lewis returned to action and was able to muscle 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting. He also pulled down two rebounds, missed all six of his three-point attempts, and ~~hit three home-runs~~ picked one steal. Give him time, it was just his first game. The good thing was that he was fairly aggressive, taking 15 shots, and played 35 minutes right off the bat.

o. Rudy Fernandez broke free in the post-Travis Outlaw era. He had 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting with four treys and four steals, including a three-ball that sent the game into overtime. Martell Webster was a non-factor in this one (two points in 11 minutes). Fernandez has the early lead in the "who will replace Travis Outlaw" battle. I picked him up Monday morning and so far I have no complaints.

o. It's worth noting that Joe Johnson took over the game Monday night with 35 points, eight of which came in the five-minute overtime period. He was max-contract good last night.

o. Jason Kidd is back! He missed picking up a triple-double by just one point -- nine points, 10 rebounds, 17 assists (!), three treys and two steals. Thank you! Oh, and Mavs fans you may want to give a big "thanks" to Dirk Nowitzki for his game-winner in OT. There's no questioning Dirk's fantasy credentials: 32 points, 11 rebounds, one block and two steals.

Lost and Found

o. Dwight Howard with two more blocks. That's seven in the last two games after posting just three in the previous five. It's nice to see that he's back to blocking shots. Super, man.

o. Josh Smith with two blocks against the Blazers, giving him at least one in each of the first 11 games. That's something worth noting.

Classified Adds

o. Flip Murray welcomed Stephen Jackson to Charlotte with a 31-point performance in his honor. In typical Flip fashion, however, he was limited in his peripheral stats -- one assist, one rebound and two steals. The scoring was nice, but still I can't get too excited about Monday night's performance. A bit premature.

o. Week one I was sold on Ersan Ilyasova, then I dropped him at the end of week two. Now, I've got nothing but love for him. Funny how things change. Ilyasova had 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, four three-pointers, 12 rebounds and two steals. Note, though, that Monday night's game was a good old-fashioned shootout with the Bucks getting off 99 attempts from the field. I'm not saying that we should discount Ilyasova's performance, but that might put it in perspective for you.

o. D.J. Augustin might be the real loser in the Jackson trade to Charlotte. Deej had two points and four assists in 13 minutes. I'm not expecting many Flip Murray 31-point outbursts, but I'm also not expecting to see many Raymond Felton-D.J. Augustin backcourt sets. Might be time to drop Augustin.

o. Rodrigue Beaubois, as I mentioned Monday, is worth looking at. Still not sold on him in 12-team leagues, but after two straight double-digit showings, he's worth the nod in deeper leagues.

Lotto Line

1-4-7-8-25

o. Brandon Jennings had another strong performance against the Mavs with 25 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, four 3-pointers, and one steal. The problem, you ask? He shot 8-of-22 from the floor. That's the kind of shooting performance you'd expect from Jennings, not the 61.8 percent from the floor in his 55-point showing.

Home Delivery: Iverson Walking on Memphis, S-Jax Joining Charlotte originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:05:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bruised, Battered and Brooks

Tom Lorenzo — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

Aaron Brooks led the Houston Rockets to a 101-91 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers last night. Brooks dropped a game-high 33 points, hitting five three-pointers, grabbing six rebounds and dishing four assists. The Rockets out-rebounded the Lakers 60-38, while holding them to 38.1-percent shooting from the floor.

Andrew Bynum led the way for the Lakers with 21 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Kobe Bryant left them game late in the fourth quarter. Initial word was that his knee was that it might have been a bruised knee. Then word came out that it was a groin strain. It looked more like a bruised ego to me, but what do I know about knees and groins?

Also In the Headlines

o. Rashard Lewis is making his season debut on Monday night. We'll get our first chance to see just how enhanced his performance really is. Hopefully weekly leaguers got him in their lineup on Sunday as Lewis should step right in as Orlando's starting power forward.

o. Erick Dampier was taken to a hospital due to whatever "illness" has been going around. With that, Drew Gooden got the start Sunday night against the Pistons. Gooden posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in 38 minutes. While Dampier is out Gooden looks to be a nice add. However, once Damp returns it will be anyone's guess as to who gets the bulk of the minutes in the middle.

o. Will Bynum came off the bench to score 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting last night against the Mavs in just 29 minutes. Bynum has been worth a flier ever since Richard Hamilton went down. I'm not sure what else he has to do to convince you that he's the best Bynum in the league -- not named 'Andrew'.

o. Ben Gordon shot a woeful 1-for-16 from the floor last night and wound up with four fewer points than Ben Wallace. Need I say more?

o. Al Thornton dropped a season-best 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting with five rebounds and an assist. He's available in close to 60-percent of Yahoo! leagues. I find it difficult to own Thornton not because he lacks the talent, but because he just can't put it together. He's put up 15.5 points per game over the last three and seems to be getting a lot better since Eric Gordon went down. I'm not buying into Thornton's new-found offensive game, but I can't blame you if you want to take a flier.

Lost and Found

o. Oh to be young again. Ben Wallace with three more blocks and a steal last night. And what do you know, he dropped a season-high nine points to go along with 10 rebounds.

o. Kareem Rush saw legitimate playing time for the first time this season last night against the Thunder. He came off the bench to score nine points, picking two steals and blocking two shots. It's nice to see Rush turning up again, but he's not worth an add.

o. Thabo Sefolosha is generally used for fantasy purposes as a defensive specialist, but last night he wasn't very helpful at all. Hitting just one of his nine field-goal attempts and adding just one steal in 30 minutes -- yikes. You would have been better off owning Kareem Rush. How often will you be able to say that again this year?

o. Jared Dudley broke his seven game streak of hitting at least one three-pointer last night against the Raptors. He did, however, offer up two blocks as a sign of peace.

o. Trevor Ariza had little effect on the offensive side of the ball in his return to the Staples Center. He did, however, pick up four steals, two blocks and a championship ring -- which belonged to him, so no I didn't count that one as a steal.

Classified Adds

o. Rodrigue Beaubois started at shooting guard for the Mavs with Josh Howard out. Still, Jason Terry is right behind him ready to purge the bulk of the minutes. Beaubois had an excellent line for a guy with just two career starts under his belt prior to this one -- 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting, two threes, four assists, and two steals in just under 20 minutes. I wouldn't get too excited about owning the rook, but he's worth watching.

o. Amir Johnson continues to look like a guy worth keeping an eye on. He's done nothing spectacular this season, but last night he had season-high nine rebounds and seven points in 25 minutes. Should the Raptors for one reason or another decide to move Chris Bosh this season... hey, It's just a thought.

o. Marco Belinelli does the family proud and scores in double-figures and draining at least three treys for the third time in four games. The unfortunate thing about Belinelli is that he offers up little else as a fantasy contributor. But we've all got needs, and it points and threes are what you need then Belinelli might be worth owning.

o. David Andersen made up for the goose egg he laid against the Lakers on Nov. 4 with a career-best 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting last night. Yao Ming who, right? Not exactly, but a nice showing nonetheless.

o. Carl Landry remains as one of the hot names on a majority of waiver wires. Landry doubled-up against the Lakers with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Houston has four games this week, making Landry one of the top adds.

Lotto Line

1-1-2-8-40

o. Kevin Durant got the gold star last night with a season-best 40-point performance. He also added one steal, one block, two threes, and eight rebounds. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to beat the Clippers, but it was more than enough for fantasy owners not to care who actually won and lost the game.

Bruised, Battered and Brooks originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Suns Learn an Important Lesson

Tom Lorenzo — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

The lesson in last night's game was: what goes around comes back around. Just 24 hours after punishing the Hornets with a 124-102 victory, the Suns went into the Staples Arena and ended up on the other side of a lopsided loss. The Suns shot just 36.5 percent from the floor and pasted 12 assists to 13 turnovers. It was a pretty ugly game as each Phoenix starter played less than 25 minutes. On the bright side, Louis Amundson made sure that the Los Angeles fans went home taco-less.

Steve Nash had just five assists. There's really no need to read to much into this one. It was a road loss against the Lakers after playing on back-to-back nights. We won't hold this one against you, though owners have to be dissapointed with how the Suns performed.

Andrew Bynum returned to action for the Lakers to drop 26 points on 13-of-18 shooting. He also pulled down 15 rebounds and blocked three shots. This is great news for Bynum owners. You can know breathe easier.

Also In the Headlines

o. We learned that Al Jefferson is going to miss his team's next two games due to an illness in his family. Nothing more to report here, but if you're in a daily league you should get him out of your lineup for the next two.

o. I'll just get into the New Orleans situation for a moment. Chris Paul seems to be miffed about the front-office decision to let Byron Scott go. No reason to stress if you're a Paul owner. Chris Paul will continue to be right there with LeBron James as one of the top 2 fantasy ballers, as frustrated as he may be. Paul is a real competitor and he's already in the midst of one of the great fantasy seasons in recent memory. Any specific fantasy implications now that Jeff Bowers has taken over as head coach are unknown at this point. He's just the interim coach for now and has brought on (ugh) Tim Floyd as an assistant. We might have more to talk about once the Hornets pull the interim tag and name someone else the head coach. For now, if you're worried about Chris Paul -- don't be.

o. Mo Williams has nine threes in his last two games. He's starting to pay-off nicely.

o. Anthony Parker is turning out to be good for a few threes and some steals. I'm not to high on him right now and would give him the heave-ho or at the very least put him on my bench until he starts to show he's worth more than a few threes and a couple of steals each night.

o. Quentin Richardson went scoreless for the second consecutive game. That's 66 minutes without a single point. And unlike Ben Wallace, who is also averse to scoring, Q-Rich provides nothing else in terms of fantasy value. May his twitter feed remain silent until he once again scores a bucket.

o. Pau Gasol to Cheryl Miller: "I'm in the right place." No, you're not. You're on the bench in street clothes. That's the wrong place. Well, at least we got Andrew Bynum back last night. This whole Gasol hamstring thing is getting extremely frustrating.

Lost and Found

o. Michael Beasley continues to add some defense to his game. He added two more steals and a block last night. A nice sign for his fantasy value.

o. The Suns managed just two steals and one garbage time block against the Lakers. Yeah, it was that kind of night.

Classified Adds

o. J.J. Hickson started once again at power forward for the Cavaliers. He scored a season-best 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting with four rebounds, a steal and a block in 32 minutes. A nice showing from Hickson, but it's hard to get too excited about his value. Anderson Varejao picked up four quick fouls and was limited to 15 minutes, scoring two points and five rebounds -- plus a posterized moment on behalf of Dwyane Wade. Varejao has had two straight sub-par games. He'll come around and I expect Hickson's minutes to fade back to the bench because he's not nearly as good of a rebounder as Varejao is.

Lotto Line

0-1-1-1-3-5

o. It wasn't just a bad game for the Suns. Ron Artest would rather not talk about his performance last night. He had just five points on 2-of-6 shooting with one rebound, three assists, one steal and one block. It would have been nice to see him at least outscore Derek Fisher.Oh well.

Suns Learn an Important Lesson originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Suns Score 123 Points, None of Which Belong to Alando Tucker

Tom Lorenzo — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

It was all Phoenix last night as the Suns beat the Hornets 124-104. The Suns scored 101 of their points in the first three quarters, so you can tell where this is going. Steve Nash needed just 23 minutes to post 12 points and 10 assists. Amare Stoudemire added 21 points. Even Goran Dragic got in on the fun adding 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Unfortunately, Alando Tucker was the only Sun held scoreless. On the bright side he wasn't the worst player in the game. That honor goes to the player responsible for last night's lotto line.

On the other side of the ball Chris Paul played inspired ball after Steve Nash called him the best point guard in the league. Paul had 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting with four treys, six assists and four steals. Chris Paul is making 2.2 threes per game and is shooting 63-percent from the floor in his first nine, which is making him the clear-cut No.1 player in all of fantasy.

Also In the Headlines

o. We got some terrible news in regards to Pau Gasol this evening. Phil Jackson told the Los Angeles Daily News that Gasol might be out until Christmas. Well that's awful. An awful joke, to be exact. It turns out that Jackson was only kidding around and Gasol is still considered day-to-day. Still, this is getting a little frustrating. It's easier to own a player when you know what his actual status is. Jokes on us.

o. Russell Westbrook left last night's game with an ankle sprain in the third quarter. Kevin Ollie stepped in at the point and added 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting and five rebounds. I'm not sure Ollie is worth a look even if Westbrook misses time, but let's think positively and hope that Russ can tape it up and return to the court as soon as possible.

o. Elton Brand took a long walk off a short "is he back" pier last night. He shot 0-of-6 from the floor and finished with just five points and six rebounds in 22 minutes. I would rather have Marreese Speights or Carl Landry on my team right now.

o. Just when we thought Anthony Randolph was left for dead, he comes up big with his fourth straight high-value game. Randolph posted 17 points and 13 rebounds to along with three steals and two blocks. Those who sat him this week are less concerned than the owners who dropped him outright.

o. Paul Millsap had an OK game last night in Boston -- nine points and 13 rebounds. Don't get too excited, though. He played plenty of his minutes against the Celtics second unit, thanks to the whoopin' that the C's gave the Jazz.

o. Chris Duhon continues to struggle at the point. He went scoreless last night on 0-of-6 shooting and had three turnovers to just two assists. It wouldn't surprise me to see Duhon on the waiver wires in most of my leagues come Thursday morning.

o. I wrote in Hoops Heist on Monday that Charlie Villanueva was a buy low candidate. Well, after he dropped 30 points on the Bobcats last night he might have just come off the market. It's a tough to get a read on this performance, however, since it came against the lowly Bobcats. But it's nice to see Chaz V. come up big last night.

o. On a side note: man the Bobcats are a terrible offensive team. This is the 5th time in eight games that the Bobcats scored fewer than 82 points in a game. They scored 75 points on the same night the Suns scored 75 in the first half. An Allen Iverson/Larry Brown reunion anyone?

o. Brandon Jennings was on point last night. He and Carmelo Anthony instigator Andrew Bogut led the Bucks to victory against the Nuggets. Jennings had 32 points and nine assists. Bogut went for 23 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. Jennings needs to be universally owned. He has to be.

o. Greg Oden had his best game of the season. He posted 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting with 11 boards, a block and a steal. More importantly he didn't pick up a single personal foul in 26 minutes. If he plays like this, he might be one of the top 10 bigs when all is said and done.

o. I wrote this about Erick Dampier yesterday: "Damps is that kind of guy who you hold-off buying into because you tell yourself the moment you pick him up he's going to put up a 6 and 5 line with no blocks. But he performs again. And yet you still hold off. Rinse. Wash. Repeat." I picked him up Wednesday morning and just 12 hours later he had one point, four rebounds and zero blocks. It was nice knowing you, Mr. Dampier.

o. Marcus Williams played 30 minutes to starter Mike Conley's 17 minutes. Conley with two straight stinkers. I don't think we'll see Williams play more minutes than Conley on a regular basis, but if Junior doesn't get more aggressive on the court all bets are off. The Grizzlies had 17 assists to 18 turnovers last night. Marcus Williams had seven of those assists and just one turnover.

Lost and Found

o. Dahntay Jones scored in double-figures in his fourth straight game. Too bad he didn't pick up a single rebound. That's no way to fill-in for Troy Murphy. To his credit, he did block four shots. Jones still strikes me a as a short-term add while Murphy is out.

o. Samuel Dalembert had four blocks against the Nets, but he's still not as good as Marreese Speights.

o. Josh Boone had three blocks to go along with six points and eight rebounds in 28 minutes. He's a nice flier option in deep leagues while he fills in for Yi Jianlian.

o. Joel Przybilla had four blocks in 21 minutes, but if Oden continues to play as he did last night you might not see his minutes get above 20 per game on a consistent basis.

o. Carl Landry showed that he was more than just a scorer by blocking four shots against the Grizzlies.

Classified Adds

o. T.J. Ford left last night's game after just four minutes with back spasms. Earl Watson filled in nicely with 16 points on 4-of-6 shooting, three treys, six rebounds and three steals. Don't make the move yet on Watson until we learn what the next steps are for Ford. If we do lose Ford for some time, Watson could be a nice add.

o. Taj Gibson did his thing against the Raptors. Filling in for Tyrus Thomas, Gibson dropped 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting with five rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Nice to see. This was obviously his best game of his young career, so monitor Saturday's game against Philadelphia and see how he follows up this one before you drop any assets for him in standard leagues.

o. Toney Douglas got the start at the point for the Knicks last night. Coach D'Antoni said he was looking for a spark and was hoping to catch lightning in a bottle. Well, Douglas came alive for the second night in a row scoring 23 points on 10-of-19 shooting with two threes, four rebounds, just one assist and no defensive stats in a losing effort. For the second straight game, Douglas has scored at least 20 points. I would suggest taking a flier on him, but I wonder what his role will be once Nate Robinson returns this weekend.

Lotto Line

0-0-0-0-2

Peja Stojakovic had one of the worst lines you could imagine. He missed all eight of his field-goal attempts. He was held scoreless and he wasn't even able to pick up any assists, steals or blocks in 23 minutes. He did manage two rebounds, but have a feeling that doesn't mean much to his owners. At least Alando Tucker can sleep well tonight knowing that he wasn't nearly as awful as Peja was.

Suns Score 123 Points, None of Which Belong to Alando Tucker originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bulls Celebrate a One-Point Loss

Tom Lorenzo — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

Nobody celebrates a loss quite like the Chicago Bulls. In all fairness, at first glance it looked like Brad Miller had hit the game-winner as time expired. Unfortunately, the red light never lies.

Joakim Noah had the best line of the game with 12 points and 21 rebounds. He now has reached double-digits in all but one game this season. He also added two blocks, giving him 11 total over the last four games. Teammate Derrick Rose chipped in with 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting, five assists, a steal, two blocks and no turnovers. If he's not 100-percent healthy, he sure looks like it.

For the Nuggets it was Carmelo Anthony who once again led the team in scoring with 20 points. Kenyon Martin played despite a minor leg injury and doubled up with 15 points and 10 rebounds. What about Earl? Well, J.R. 'Earl' Smith returned from hit seven-game suspension to come off the bench for 29 minutes, scoring five points on 1-of-9 shooting. He just needs to shake off the rust.

Also In the Headlines

o. Eric Gordon's diagnosis is in and he's now out for 10 days, thanks to his stinkin' groin. Time to make a move to replace him for the next two weeks.

o. Both Tim Duncan and Tony Parker are doubtful with ankle sprains for Wednesday night's game. So, daily leaguers, get them on your bench.

o. Randy Foye injured his ankle last night. It looks like he'll miss some time, so make the change in your lineup.

o. Vince Carter returned to action and played 25 minutes, scoring 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting, four rebounds, three treys, a steal and a block. Glad to see him back and jacking up shots. It's hard to keep a good Carter down.

o. Gerald Wallace, the NBA's leading rebounder, pulled down nine more last night marking his seventh straight game with at least nine rebounds. I said this in Hoops Heist last night, but I still think that Wallace is a nice buy-low trade option as he can average 10 boards, 16 points and at least two steals this season. He shot 5-of-12 from the floor marking an improvement on his 32.1 field-goal percentage and, thankfully, he did not shoot a three-pointer. The Bobcats as a team shot just 2-of-17 from beyond the arc.

o. Gilbert Arenas was so-so last night scoring 21 points, hitting three treys, dishing eight dimes and picking up three steals. Of course, if you're in turnover league his 12 TOs just killed your entire week.

o. Zach Randolph will single-handily bring his teammates down. Literally. Last night his head broke rookie Hasheem Thabeet's jaw. The hit looked pretty rough, though I never expected to hear that his jaw was broken. We don't know how long Thabeet will be out, but it's pretty clear that he probably shouldn't be owned right now.

o. Andre Miller and Steve Blake once again started in the backcourt for the Blazers. Blake provided the scoring (14 points) while Miller was responsible for the dishing (seven assists). Miller has the upside and it's only a matter of time before he puts it all together. I'm sure I've said that a dozen times this week alone, but give him a little more time to get adjusted to his starting role and don't bail on him just yet.

o. LaMarcus Aldridge had has shot falling last night and Brandon Roy followed up his two-point performance on Sunday with a 20-point showing last night. Things seem to be going well in Portland.

o. Erik Dampier had 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting with 20 rebounds (!) and three blocks. Come on, man. What's it going to be? Damps is that kind of guy who you hold-off buying into because you tell yourself the moment you pick him up he's going to put up a 6 and 5 line with no blocks. But he performs again. And yet you still hold off. Rinse. Wash. Repeat.

o. Jason Terry doesn't seem to be worried by Josh Howard's return. He scored 24 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor, 1-of-1 from beyond the arc and 9-of-9 from the line. Efficient.

o. The Kings with a fantastic victory last night against the Thunder, led by Tyreke Evans' 20 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and clutch free-throw shooting hitting 10-of-10 -- including two in the final seconds after Kevin Durant hit a three-pointer to pull the Thunder within one. Jason Thompson turned in another huge performance with 21 points and 14 rebounds, marking his fourth straight double-double. Too bad for fantasy owners that the Kings play only twice this week. They are riding a high, winning three in a row since the Kevin Martin injury.

o. Speaking of free-throws, Kevin Durant hit all 18 of his attempts to finish with 37 points to go along with his five rebounds and three steals. Durant owners get seven games out of him over the next 12 nights. Nice.

Lost and Found

o. Marcin Gortat had a nice defensive showing with four blocks and two steals. Unfortunately, there's that Dwight Howard fella blocking his minutes, so there's still no need in picking up Gortat in standard leagues.

o. Dwight Howard failed to block a shot for the third time in four games. I would be worried if he wasn't Dwight Howard.

o. Mario Chalmers had four more steals giving him 17 on the season. Not sure why owners are bailing on him. You know what he can and can't do, so keep that in mind when you're cursing him for not scoring 15 per game.

o. Chuck Hayes is a one-man defensive beast. Sure he went scoreless last night, but he picked up another three steals. He's now averaging 2.4 steals per game and is eligible at the center position. He's obviously a defensive specialist, but there's certainly some value in that. On the flip-side you have Carl Landry who had 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, picking up a steal and block. He'll sprinkle those in from time to time.

o. Thabo Sefolosha continues to come up big on defense. Last night he had three steals and four blocks against the Kings. The Thunder have seven games in the next 12 nights, making him a nice add for defensive purposes.

o. Spencer Hawes had four blocks last night, giving him seven over the last three. He's another value big.

Classified Adds

o. Brandon Bass had another nice game. He scored 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting with three rebounds, one steal and a block. Rashard Lewis returns next week, so Bass might have a two-game run left in him before he returns to his role coming off the bench.

o. Brendan Haywood double-doubled once again last night, giving him three in his last four games. He also blocked four shots. That's 13 blocks in the last three for Haywood! He's still available in nearly 40-percent of Yahoo! leagues and more than half of FleaFlicker leagues. At this point he should be owned across the board.

Lotto Line

3-5-5-12-41

o. Who dare doubt the greatness of Dwyane Wade? Not I. Wade went for 41 points making 12-of-13 free-throws, with five rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block. One note, though: watching this game you could tell that Wade knows he's in for a long season. A couple of times when he got fouled and went to the line his face had that "wow it's been a long season" look on it. He's a tough guy, and I'm not speculating anything here, but it's tough to watch him sometimes and think that he's the guy who is going to carry your fantasy team all season long.

Bulls Celebrate a One-Point Loss originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No Duncan, No Parker, No Problem

Tom Lorenzo — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

Both Tim Duncan and Tony Parker sat out last night's game against the Raptors. Of course, as you'd imagine, the Spurs put up 131 points and defeated the Raptors by seven points. Duh. I mean, who needs Tony Parker and Tim Duncan anyway? The Lakers won a ring last year without them, didn't they?

Manu Ginobili went off for 36 points, eight assists, six threes and four blocks. I'm not saying the rabies shot had anything to do with his performance, but I'll let you go ahead and draw your own conclusions. George Hill stepped in and filled Parker's shoes quite nicely -- 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting and five assists. Parker's due back next week, so I'm not sure that Hill has long-term value.

Chris Bosh on the other side of the ball scored 32 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the floor and 15-of-17 from the line, plus 10 rebounds, a block and a three. Fun fact: Chis Bosh is 6-of-6 from the three-point line. The Raptors shot 59.2-percent from the floor in a losing effort. That always hurts.

Also In the Headlines

o. Steve Nash with 21 points and 20 assists (seven turnovers) -- his second 20-assist game this season. He now has 37 assists over the past two nights. Damn he's good. Jason Richardson continues to tear it up as well. He had 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting, with eight rebounds and six three-pointers.

o. Deron Williams, not to be outdone by Nash's seven turnovers, had seven of his own to go along with four points and 16 assists against the Knicks. His teammate Andrei Kirilenko nailed five three-pointers, four more than his wife would allow. Zing!

o. Eric Gordon missed last night's game with a groin injury. There is no specific timetable for his return. Uh-oh. Rasual Butler started in his place, scoring 14 points and hitting three treys. That's pretty much what you'll get out of Butler if you decide to pick him up in Gordon's abcencse.

o. Devin Brown made the most of his second straight start. He torched the Clippers for 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting, with five treys, five rebounds and three steals. He's starting to look like an add. He can shoot the three-ball fairly well, but 25-point performances won't be the norm.

o. Where do I start with the Golden State Warriors. How about the bad? It looks like Andris Biedrins will miss the next two weeks with back/groin/abdomin injuries.Anthony Randolph? Indeed!

o. On the court the Warriors handled their business. They scored 146 points against the Timberwolves, shooting 57.1-percent from the floor, draining 12 threes, shooting 52.2-percent from the three-point line, dishing 36 dimes to just 12 turnovers and picking up 22 steals.

Here's the breakdown:

o. Eight different players scored in double-figures.

o. Stephen Jackson had a career-high 15 assists to go along with 10 points, four steals and two blocks

o. Kelenna Azubuike scored a game-high 31 points on 13-of-19 shooting, with four rebounds, a steal and a block.

o. Monta Ellis double-doubled with 18 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and a block.

o. Anthony Morrow shot 7-of-10 from the field and 5-of-6 from the three-point line to finish with 20 points, four rebounds, four steals and three steals. I still advise picking him up.

o. Anthony Randolph, yes that Anthony Randolph, came up big with 23 points, seven rebounds, three steals and three blocks. He no longer should be on your waiver wires. Especially with Biedrins out for at least the next two weeks.

o. I'm going to leave the Minnesota players out of this post. They've been through enough already.

Lost and Found

o. Jared Dudley had three steals to go along with 18 points, five rebounds and four treys. You can't count on the offensive stats, but he has stolen at least one ball in each of the Suns first eight games. He could be a nice option in the steals category if you're desperate for help.

o. Larry Hughes had four steals and two blocks last night, giving him 10 steals in the last three games. He's an add, what can I say.

o. Danilo Gallinari had two blocks against the Jazz. He's starting to look a lot better on the defensive side of the ball. His block against Ronnie Brewer made me say "Oooh baby, ooh-eee!"

o. DeAndre Jordan showed the power of his hands by blocking three shots. He really only got an opportunity because the game was well out of reach early in the third. I wouldn't add him based on last night's performance.

o. The Warriors posted 22 steals last night against the T-Wolves. Acie Law had five picks to lead the way. Nine different players had at least one steal, leaving Mikki Moore as the only Warrior not to get his hands on any errant passes.

Classified Adds

o. Marreese Speights wants to make sure that we don't forget about him. He had 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting and eight rebounds against the Suns. His third 20-point performance this season and he is now shooting almost 70-percent from the floor. He's owned in just 40-percent of Yahoo! leagues, making him widely available. Speights looks like the only Philadelphia big who is comfortable with the Princeton offense.

o. Toney Douglas poured in 21 points against the Jazz on 9-of-14 shooting. Though he missed the game-tying shot at the buzzer -- really, what do fantasy owners care that he probably shouldn't have been taking that shot in the first place -- he did hit three treys and pick up three steals. Unfortunately, this might be a short-lived love affair. Nate Robinson is scheduled to return on Friday. Douglas will get minutes, but more than likely you can't count on any more than 15 minutes per game with Robinson in the lineup.

Lotto Line

0-0-1-4-5

o. Yuck. I suggested sitting Paul Millsap this week and it looks like I actually got one right. Millsap had four points, five rebounds, one assist and zero steals/blocks in 25 minutes. Against the Knicks! Wes Matthews once again outscored Millsap. I can almost do without Millsap at this point.

No Duncan, No Parker, No Problem originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Home Delivery: Thunder on the Mountain

Tom Lorenzo — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

Dwight Howard and Orlando Magic came into last night's game against the Thunder without Vince Carter, Ryan Anderson and Rashard Lewis in uniform. And wouldn't you know, the Thunder we're more than happy to have them. The City popped the Magic in the eye with a 28-point victory. Kevin Durant led the way with 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting, two threes, four rebounds, five assists and three steals. Thabo Sefolosha continued to distance himself from James Harden in the battle for minutes at the two-guard position, posting a double-double -- 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting, three treys, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block. He's a nice option this week with the Thunder playing four games.

On the other side of the ball the Magic looked like a junior-varsity team, shooting just 36.8-percent from the floor and 16.8-percent from beyond the arc. Dwight Howard pulled down just seven rebounds and failed to block a shot for the second time in three games. On the bright side, even with his 10-of-17 performance from the line last night, Howard is shooting 74.1-percent from the line through the first five games of the month. Howard would be a top 3 fantasy baller if he could shoot over 75-percent on the season.

Also In the Headlines

The starting frontline of the Phoenix Suns each posted a double-double against the Wizards. Channing Frye had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Grant Hill posted 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Amare Stoudemire went for 17 points and 12 rebounds. Steve Nash chipped in with 11 points and 17 rebounds. There's no word on whether or not any snacks were injured by Antawn Jamison after this performance.

Andre Miller loves his new role as the co-starting point guard for the Blazers. He had a season-high 21 points in just 26 minutes. He only dished three dimes, but it's nice to see him get into the offense in one way or another. Saw he was available in one of my leagues this afternoon and I jumped all over him. No way people should be dropping Miller.

Brandon Roy picked a fine time to shoot 1-of-6 from the floor. He had just two points on Sunday night. You know, just when you're banking on him to score 20-25 to help you get over the hump as the week closes out. Nice. Of the 11 Blazers who got on the court, Roy scored the fewest points.

Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry combined for nine of their team's 14 turnovers and just 18 of the team's 107 points. Andris Biedrins came back from injury to chip in with just two points. Anthony Morrow and Anthony Randolph combined for 25 points, outscoring Ellis, Curry and Biedrins. I'm starting to get a headache trying to figure out this team.

Tyreke Evans is killing it in Sacramento. He had 23 points last night, with teammate Beno Udrih chipping in with 20 points and six assists. Jason Thompson had 19 and 10 in the frontcourt. Lookout! The Kings are now 2-0 since Kevin Martin went out with a broken hand.

Little to take away from many of the lines in Los Angeles last night. The game was out of reach in the third quarter, so nothing to Chris Paul and David West posting sub-par lines last night.

Lost and Found

Brendan Haywood blocked five shots against the Suns. He's blocked nine shots and pulled down 29 rebounds in the past two games. Too bad the Wizards play just twice this week.

Andray Blatche chipped in on the defensive side of the ball with three blocks. That's four straight games with at least two blocks for A-Blatche.

Rudy Fernandez had four steals against the T-Wolves. Too bad his minutes aren't consistent enough -- 13, 17, 11, 23 minutes per game over the last four. I'm still not buying until he starts getting consistent PT.

D.J. Mbenga blocked four shots and posted a double-double -- 10 points, 12 rebounds -- against the Hornets. Too bad for the Deej that Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum are expected back this week.

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Ben Wallace had another nice line on Sunday posting 16 rebounds, three steals, three blocks and, as is obligated, two points. It might be worth it to consider Wallace, who has posted at least nine rebounds in all but one of Detroit's seven games.

Leandro Barbosa returned to action Sunday afternoon. He had just nine points and four assists in 18 minutes. If he's out there in your waiver wire, I'd suggest you scoop him up quickly. Barbosa has the ability to post plus-threes and steals.

Hello, my name is Nathan Jawai. I scored 16 points and pulled down six rebounds in 22 minutes last night against Portland. Hi, Nathan. No need in picking up Jawai, but I thought he deserved a mention.

Omri Casspi had 12 pints (all three-pointers), 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals. This is the third time in the past week that I've mentioned Casspi in this section. I hope guys in deep leagues are paying attention.

Lotto Line

8-8-8-8-8

Will Bynum had eight points, eight rebounds, eight assists and eight field-goal attempts. The final eight? Well, you are reading this on the 8th of November, no? Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince are likely out this week. Bynum still looks like a solid add to me.

Home Delivery: Thunder on the Mountain originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Home Delivery: Kevin Martin -- In or Out?

Tom Lorenzo — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

The biggest story to come out of the NBA last evening was without a doubt the news out of Sacramento, as we learned that Kevin Martin may miss the next six-to-eight weeks with a broken wrist. A tough break, considering that Martin was ranked third overall in standard, eight-category leagues.

There have been some reports that Martin might try and play through the injury, but we need to assess the situation in Sacramento from a fantasy perspective should the Kings be without Kevin Martin. You can disregard Desmond Mason now that he is longer a King, and with Andres Nocioni facing a possible suspension after being arrested for driving under the influence his role might redefined.

The rest of the team? Go young or go home.

Tyreke Evans is now given the reins in Sacramento and I expect him to step up and lead his team in scoring while Kevin Martin suits up in street clothes. Evans' game is still raw and he needs to continue to grow on both ends of the court, but it makes more sense moving him off the ball and putting it in, dare I say, Beno Udrih's hands. Evans will have his fair share of 'off' nights, but don't shy away from picking him up. With or without Martin in the lineup Evans is a universal add.

Beno Udrih will likely step in and start at the point, pushing Evans off the ball. Udrih has had his moment in the fantasy basketball sun, and now it would seem to me that he's on the verge of being a somewhat productive point guard with starter's minutes. His per-36 stats this season read as follows -- 15.8 points, 4.9 assists, 2.4 three-pointers, and 1.2 steals. The threes are inflated, but 15 and five is reachable. And to put his value into perspective, would you rather Rafer Alston in New Jersey? Not many other starting point guards available on the wires.

Omri Casspi has long been mentioned around these parts as a deep league add. It might be time to upgrade him to a standard league add. His per-36 numbers stack up well -- 16.7 points, 1.5 threes, 3.6 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.5 blocks. Pretty lofty for a rookie, but a better prospect at the 'three' than the newly acquired Ime Udoka, who has little to no fantasy value. He can factor in with Martin out and Mason no longer on the team. Someone worth considering should the cards fall in his favor.

Aside from a possible two game suspension, Andres Nocioni should see a nice uptick in production. He's the kind of guy you add to round-out your lineup -- shoots threes, can score, pick up hustle stats, and rebounds fairly well. At this point, he might just be the safest pick of the bunch. Not the one with the most upside -- that would be Ty Evans -- but one who is less likely to throw up a complete stinker.

Also In the Headlines

o. Devin Harris is likely out for at least a month. He could return in two weeks, but it doesn't sound like he's in any rush to get back on the court. Rafer Alston is going to start at the point. His FG% might be tough to live with, but he does have some value elsewhere -- assists and threes. I'm not excited about Alston, but it's your call. Not many starting point guards out there, as I mentioned earlier, so you take what you can get sometimes.

o. Derrick Rose looks like he might be close to 100-percent. He posted his first double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 assists. He only turned the ball over twice, and as a team the Bulls committed just six turnovers. A nice game for Chicago as a whole, who eked out a one-point victory against the Cavs.

o. Carlos Boozer had a statement game last night -- 27 points, 14 rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Cue the collective sigh of relief coming from his owners.

Lost and Found

o. Shaquille O'Neal blocked five shots against the Bulls, nearly doubling his season total. He still knows how to turn it on.

o. Ronnie Brewer is starting to get back on track with his two steals last night and one block. I was expecting Brewer to post two steals per game, and this is just the first time this season in which he posted more than one in a single game.

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o. Tyrus Thomas returned to the lineup to play just 12 minutes, scoring six points, pulling down one rebound and blocking just one shot. I know there are a lot of 'behind the scenes' talk in Chicago in regards to Ty Thomas, but I'm actually buying low on Double-T. Something has to give. I'm not buying that Taj Gibson is going to start at power forward for the Bulls going forward. Thomas may have been dropped in your league, or he may be on the trading block. I would go get him with a low-ball offer, if you can pull it off. Thomas will be back in the starting lineup, or better yet he'll be playing elsewhere -- pure speculation on my part, but an interesting idea.

o. DeJuan Blair had a nice game last night -- 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting and nine rebounds. He's still a bit unreliable, but I just picked him up in a league where I desperately needed a rebounder -- if that helps ease your mind any, which I highly doubt.

o. And out of nowhere comes Wesley Matthews. The rookie ended up with 12 points, three rebounds, two steals and a three-pointer. If you're wondering, Matthews got scooped up last night in my 30-team league before the game even ended. That's an acceptable move, I suppose. Any league with less than 16-teams, however, should probably hold off before they go and make a move for Matthews.

Lotto Line

0-1-1-7-11

o. Taj Gibson started his second straight game last night posting 11 points, seven rebounds, zero assists, one steal and one block. I said it earlier in my Tyrus Thomas blurb, but I can't foresee him starting many more games going forward. Gibson had a nice career game, so he'll get some respect from me, but he's not the tempo player I envision running alongside Derrick Rose in the open court. Tyrus Thomas is that guy. Then again, I have no say as to who is on the court and who isn't.

Home Delivery: Kevin Martin -- In or Out? originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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And Out Come the Wolves

Tom Lorenzo — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

Surprisingly, the Timberwolves were able to make a game out of last night's contest against the Celtics. The C's pulled it off in the end, but the T-Wolves kept it close from the opening tip, and actually had the lead for most of the game.

The star of the game just so happened to be Oleksiy Pecherov, who I mentioned in Tuesday's post as a guy to add in deep leagues. Well, standard leagues, it's time to become acquainted with Mr. Pecherov. He posted a game high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting with eight rebounds, one three-pointer and a steal. You won't see him lead the T-Wolves in scoring often, but he does have the ability to put up 15 points on a given night, adding some nice range for a big man.

The Celtics were led by Rajon Rondo who had 18 points, six assists and three steals. I'm standing by my claim that he's going to lead the league in steals. Kevin Garnett added 12 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks, a steal and a burning desire to win.

Also In the Headlines

o. Vince Carter sat out last night's game against the Suns, and is listed now as day-to-day. Nothing I can tell you other than to keep your eyes peeled for updates on whether or not he plays on Friday against Detroit. The Magic did get Mickael Pietrus back in the lineup -- 15 points, three treys, one steal, and one block -- but it was Ryan Anderson and Matt Barnes who came up big.

o. Dwight Howard was held to five rebounds for the second straight game. He also failed to record a block for the first time this season. This was mostly due to the fact that he found himself in early foul trouble yet again. If there's one positive note to take from Howard's performance, he did shoot 7-of-8 from the free-throw line and has now made 16 of his last 20 attempts.

o. Jason Richardson and Grant Hill were both held scoreless in last night's game against the Magic. This hurt, especially since Leandro Barbosa missed the game with a wrist injury. Barbosa should return at the end of the week. In his absence it was Goran Dragic who benefited with 15 points, four rebounds and six assists. Re-read the first sentence in this blurb again and that should tell you all you need to know about his performance.

o. I'll give propers to Dwyane Wade and Gilbert Arenas for their shootout last night. Wade scored 40 points and Arenas scored 32 of his own. Go see if they're available in your waiver wire. If they are, it's likely that you play in a Western Conference only league.

o. Mike Miller is out 7-to-10 days with a shoulder sprain. More the reason to jump on Randy Foye for the next two weeks.

o. Jose Calderon still can't put it together -- nine points, two rebounds, one assist (!), two steals and one block. My guess is that he's not finding a rhythm with Hedo Turkoglu. Nothing you can do about it, though, since you can't drop him and you can't really trade him since his value is so low. For now you just have to live with it. Sorry, bros.

o. Chris Douglas-Roberts is the guy to own right now in New Jersey. While Devin Harris remains out for the next week or so, CD-R has averaged 20.6 points in his absence. He added 17 points last night and should now be a universal add.

o. David Lee gets a mention not only for his 20 points and 19 rebounds, but because he added two blocks and two steals. His teammate Larry Hughes burned me a night after I told you he would. It's like clockwork.
I just cannot bring myself to owning him.

o. Trevor Ariza may have had 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists, but it was his 5-of-21 shooting that just killed his owners. Momma said there'd be days like this, but let's hope there aren't many more. His former teammate Kobe Bryant dropped 41 points for the second time in three games. He's still got it.

o. Pau Gasol looks like he might lace up his shoes and get on the court this Friday night. Finally. Of course this means that Andrew Bynum now has to miss time, right? Well, he apparently sprained his elbow last night and will have an MRI on Thursday. Stay tuned.

o. Rodrigue Beaubois got his first career start last night -- nine points, zero rebounds and one assist. Nothing doing here.

o. After dropping 40 on the Jazz two nights ago, Dirk Nowitzki decided to take the night off, scoring 12 points in 37 minutes.

o. Jason Thompson double-doubled last night with 22 points and 12 rebounds against the Hawks. You might want to see if you can buy Thompson now, because I have a feeling he's about to go off.

Lost and Found

o. Austin Daye with two blocks and a steal. He's a guy to keep an eye on. Nothing going just yet, but an interesting player to follow.

o. Eight different Nuggets picked up at least one steal against the Nets, with Nene Hilario taking two and adding three blocks.

o. Solomon Jones had three blocks against the Knicks. Not sure how many times you'll read the name 'Solomon Jones' in any of my posts going forward, but I'll put the over/under at two.

o. Erick Dampier had three blocks last night, giving him 12 over the past three games. I can't argue against adding him, especially with his four straight games with double-figure rebounding.

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o. Ryan Anderson posted his first double-double of the season with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting, three treys and 10 rebounds. It'll be interesting to see where he fits into the rotation once Rashard Lewis returns in two weeks, but since he's scored at least 16 points in four of his first five games this season you can comfortably add him and ride the lightning until that day comes.

o. Will Bynum with a strong performance against the Raptors. I mentioned him yesterday as a nice short-term add and it paid off last night -- 16 points, six assists, two three-pointers and a steal. Hamilton is expected to return later on this week, so his time in the spotlight might be short-lived.

o. Ty Lawson scored 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting in just 27 minutes against the Nets. He added three treys, four rebounds, two assists and a steal. It's nice to know he can bust out and post a killer line like this from time-to-time, but don't read too much into it. This game was over in the 3rd quarter, and the Nuggets as a team were having a tough time missing from the field against the Nets "defense" -- 53.0-percent on the game.

o. Chuck Hayes is averaging 2.5 steals per game as a center. Sure he's only 6-6, but he pulled down 14 rebounds against Andrew Bynum and the rest of the Lakers frontline. He should start getting a serious look as a plus-defender in the middle, and added to teams in need of another center.

o. Jamal Crawford led the Hawks in scoring for the second straight game, dropping 26 points -- Joe Johnson also had 26 for the Hawks. Many of his owners have dropped Crawford out of frustration after his slow start. It looks like he's getting into the groove on the offensive side of the ball. Check to see if he's out there on your waiver wires. It's not often you can get a 20-point scorer off the wire after the season starts.

o. Wouldn't you know, I dropped Anthony Morrow in our FanHouse league and of course he goes off for 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting and 4-of-4 from beyond the three-point line. Such is life. I still own him in a number of leagues, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is the game that gets him going.

Lotto Line

3-4-7-18-27

o. Allen Iverson came off the bench to play 27 minutes, scoring 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting with three rebounds, seven assists and four turnovers. He's all yours. Iverson is already complaining about coming off the bench Lionel Hollins is none to happy about talking Iverson. I'm with you. I'd rather not talk Iverson, but I guess he needs to get some credit for helping the Grizzlies lose to the Golden State Warriors. It's going to be a long season in Memphis.

And Out Come the Wolves originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bryant vs. Durant, Settled on the Court

Tom Lorenzo — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

It was the premiere matchup of the evening, Kobe Bryant versus Kevin Durant. It took an extra five minutes to decide the contest, but in the end it was Kobe and the Lakers coming out on top by a three-point margin. Bryant dropped 31 points on 9-of-22 shooting, while Durant scored 28 points on 10-of-24 shooting, missing all eight of his three-point attempts.

Andrew Bynum chipped in with 22 points and 10 rebounds, but the real story might have been Ron Artest finally putting it all together. He scored 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting and picked off five steals. It's about time!

Also In the Headlines

o. Troy Murphy left Wednesday night's game against the Nuggets with a bruised lower back. According to Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star, Murphy is doubtful for Wednesday night's game against the Knicks, so you may want to leave him out of your lineup. No early front-runner to take the minutes left behind by Murph. Though, if he misses some extended time it might be interesting to see if Tyler Hansbrough can come back this weekend and play a major role at power forward.

o. Caron Butler returned to the court Tuesday night, and man he looked good -- 22 points on 7-of-18 shooting with a steal, a three-pointer and six rebounds. Let's hope he can stay on the court.

o. Dwight Howard fouled out in just over 17 minutes, posting just eight points, five rebounds and three blocked shots. He also had a bit of a scare, falling hard on his right shoulder. Not sure how serious the injury will turn out to be, but we know he's tough as nails -- in his first five seasons in the league he missed just three total games. Tough it out, big man.

o. Charlie Bell stepped in to the starting lineup for the injured Michael Redd. He had a decent line -- 11 points, five rebounds, three assists, a steal and a three-pointer -- but still isn't worth adding in standard leagues. It's evident by Tuesday nights 25-point performance that this is Brandon Jennings' team. I love his points, love that he's hitting threes, love that he's picking up steals, but I think with the current personnel the Bucks are putting out on the court Jennings might have a tough time dropping dimes. He's an add, but think of him more as a scoring point.

o. Luol Deng with 24 points and 20 rebounds. Gangsta.

o. Dirk Nowitzki was not impressed with Deng's performance, dropping 40 points and 11 rebounds of his own, while adding two steals and five, yes five, blocked shots. He scored 29 points in the 4th quarter alone. He is the most interesting man in the world.

o. LaMarcus Aldridge played despite a bruised knee and look just fine -- 20 points, 14 rebounds, two steals. Nice to see him finally post a double-double.

Lost and Found

o. Kenyon Martin with another solid return on the defensive side of the ball with two blocks and two steals. He could finish the season with 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks, if he can stay healthy. Still available in 40 percent of Yahoo! leagues, you might want to give him a look to boost your defensive stats.

o. Four more steals for Rajon Rondo, giving him 14 in the first five games. I'm calling it right now, Rondo is going to lead the league in steals this year. Hey, Tuesday night was Election Night -- I'm in the mood to declare winners before the final results
are in.

o. Roy Hibbert posted four blocks and a steal. He also posted a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. He may be the biggest benefactor of Murphy's injury, so grab him if he's still available in your league.

o. Andray Blatche turned in a so-so performance -- seven points, eight rebounds -- but added two blocks against the Cavs. I'll stand by Blatche as an add. He's young and games like this one will happen from time to time.

o. Ben Wallace with two points, two steals and, of course, two points. If only he could put the ball in the basket. It's a real shame.

o. Amar'e Stoudemire blocked three shots Tuesday night. Is he back? Baby steps.

o. The Bulls' starting five blocked 11 shots, with Joakim Noah leading the way with five. Each starter picked up at least one block, and Tyrus Thomas didn't even play (flu and/or contract dispute). Thanks fellas!

o. Not to be outdone, the starting five for the Los Angeles Lakers tallied 16 total steals, with each player posting at least two. Ron Artest had five of his own. It's safe to say that Ron Artest might be contagious.

o. Mehmet Okur had four steals and two blocks against the Mavs. He's not normally known for his defense, and I predict that after his next game he'll go back to once again not being known for his defense.

o. Andrei Kirilenko had three blocks and three steals. I believe he still has his "free pass" in his back pocket, so things are coming up AK-47.

o. With Drew Gooden out of Tuesday night's game against the Jazz, Erick Dampier got 39 minutes at center and blocked six shots! He has 11 blocks on the season and has posted double-digit rebounds in three straight games. Time to pick him up? Better you than me, but it's not a bad idea if you're looking for boards, blocks and a plus-60 percent field-goal percentage.

o. Josh Smith had a so-so game with just 12 points and seven rebounds, but gave you a nice boost with three steals and two blocks. I still think he's going to start hitting his stride soon, so be patient with his non-defensive numbers.

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o. Anderson Varejao picked up his second double-double in the past three games with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He's available in 60 percent of Yahoo! leagues, and with his defensive numbers -- just under two steals and one block per game -- he's a better add than a guy like Udonis Haslem.

o. Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton missed Tuesday nights game, and likely will miss the remainder of the week. Stepping up was one of my "adds of the week" from this past weekend, Will Bynum, with his 20-point performance on 7-of-15 shooting and two steals in 28 minutes. I still think he's a nice option for this week and as long as Hamilton remains out.

o. Paul Millsap had five points and six rebounds in 21 minutes. It's not time to drop him, but you might want to sit him until things start looking more promising.

o. Travis Outlaw outplayed Martell Webster. It's difficult to tell which one will step forward and fill the void left by Nicolas Batum, but it seems to me that Outlaw is the front-runner. He scored 19 points in 23 minutes and added two blocks and a steal. I'm a tad more confident in Outlaw than Webster, and would advise that if you're going to roll the dice on one of them, Outlaw is the better option.

Lotto Line

0-0-0-5-11

Andre Miller and Steve Blake are still locked in a battle for minutes. Miller played 28 minutes, Blake chipped in for 27 minutes. Miller had five points and 11 assists, with zero rebounds, zero steals, and zero 3-pointers. Blake wasn't much better -- five points and three assists -- but it seems like neither is turning out to be a must-start, which is unfortunate for Miller owners who had to use a mid-round draft choice on him. Think about other options at the point until Miller starts getting more than just 25-28 minutes per game.

Bryant vs. Durant, Settled on the Court originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Home Delivery: Iverson Returns, Griz Have No Answer for Martin

Tom Lorenzo — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

The Kings spoil the debut of Allen Iverson by outscoring the Griz 17-6 in overtime, on their way to winning 127-116. Kevin Martin scored 48 points and Spencer Hawes chipped in by almost posting a triple-double off the bench -- 21 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists. The Kings bench outscored the starters 67-60.

Iverson came off the bench to score 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting with just one assist. Underwhelming, but it was just one game. I refused to draft Iverson this year and probably won't get excited about him as we move forward, so keep that in mind.

Three Grizzlies posted double-doubles -- Rudy Gay (21 points, 13 rebounds), Marc Gasol (16 points, 16 rebounds), and Zach Randolph (30 points, 16 rebounds).

Also in the Headlines

The Bobcats shot 32.4 percent from the floor Monday night, including just 1-of-15 from beyond the arc. Yet, they still managed to beat the New Jersey Nets. The Nets didn't fare much better, shooting 37.3 percent from the floor and committing 25 turnovers. It was Gerald Wallace's 24-point, 20-rebound performance that made this game notable. The Phoenix Suns scoffed at the 147 combined points.

Yi Jianlian left the game after injuring his right knee, and is scheduled to have an MRI on Tuesday. Hopefully there's no serious damage, because Yi was doing some serious damage himself averaging 11.7 points and eight rebounds heading into the game. Keep an eye on this development to determine whether or not he'll be back on the court or if The Chairman will find himself in a chair at the end of the bench, man.

Raja Bell returned Monday night after missing time due to a torn ligament in his left wrist. Bell scored just three points on 1-of-8 shooting in 28 minutes. I'm in no rush to pick him up. Especially not after D.J. Augustin poured in 21 points in 27 minutes coming off the bench.

Eight Rockets finished in double-figures last night against the Jazz, with Aaron Brooks leading the way with 19 points. Chase Budinger dropped 17 points in 21 minutes, but he's still too inconsistent to warrant an add in standard leagues.

Lost and Found

Chris Paul picked up another steal Monday night. The only reason why I mention that is because he has just three on the season, giving him 0.7 per game. We expected to see a 'two' in front of that decimal point.

Danilo Gallinari had two steals and a blocked shot. if he can start putting it all together, look out!

Six different Nets blocked at least one shot against the Bobcats, with Brook Lopez leading the way with four. He now has 2.7 per game and should remain as one of the league leaders in blocks.

Gerald Wallace had four steals and one block against the Nets. Nice to see someone showed up for the Nets-Bobcats game Monday night.

Andrei Kirilenko picked two steals and blocked three shots. Ah, the good old days. Remember when he was considered a first-rounder five years ago?

Paul Millsap blocked three shots against the Rockets, but added just two points and five rebounds. It's tough to see a line like this from Millsap after he was averaging 16.5 points, seven rebounds, and 1.5 blocks heading into the game. The blocks made it a little easier to swallow.

Marc Gasol added another two blocks Monday night, pushing his average up to 1.5 per game. He continues to look like a steal.

Kevin Martin stole four balls against the Grizzlies, giving him nine in the first four games and tying him for third in the league in steals.

Marcus Camby added five more blocks, moving him into the league lead with 12 total blocks. We'll take the blocks now before he goes down for four weeks with a knee injury.

Corey Brewer moved into the league lead in steals after picking up five more against the Clippers, giving him 12 on the season. He also added two blocks, which is a nice plus.

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It pains me to say this, but it might be time to add Larry Hughes. With Nate Robinson out for the next two weeks, Hughes stepped in Monday night and put up a notable line -- 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting, with six rebounds, two assists, a steal and two three-pointers. He won't shoot this well from the floor, but he's always been a nice source of steals, threes and points. I can't stand owning him, but that won't keep me from noting that he's worth a flier.

Chris Douglas-Roberts topped the 20-point mark for the second straight game. There are extra shots to go around now that Devin Harris is out. Douglas-Roberts is available in more than 80 percent of Yahoo! leagues, go and get him if you need another scoring wing.

Omri Casspi makes his case once again as a deep-league add. With 15 points, three treys, two blocks and two steals, he should be scooped up in leagues that run 16 teams deep. Unfortunately because of his inconsistency and lack of production across the board, he's not a standard-league add just yet, but that's not to say he won't be anytime soon.

We learned Monday that Michael Redd will miss two weeks with a strained tendon in his left knee. Charlie Bell will replace him in the starting lineup, though I wouldn't be jumping to the waiver wires to add Bell just yet. There's not much going on in Milwaukee and I don't believe Bell is going to be the piece that gets this team moving. I don't think LeBron James would turn Milwaukee into a playoff team.

Oleksiy Percherov started his second consecutive game, scoring 13 points, adding four rebounds, one three-pointer, a steal and a block. He could be a nice sleeper in deep leagues, especially if he continues to start at power forward for the T-Wolves.

Lotto Line

1-4-5-13-32

Thank you! Chris Paul killed it against the Knicks with 32 points, 13 assists, five rebounds, four threes and a steal. While we're still waiting for him to break out in the steals category, it's nice to see him draining threes. If he can keep up with the three-point category there may not be a question as to who the best fantasy baller is.

Home Delivery: Iverson Returns, Griz Have No Answer for Martin originally appeared on Fantasy FanHouse on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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