Fantasy related but good info...
Youth & Young Manhood
I'll be Season Pass live chatting today at 4. See you there.
Quote of the Year?
You all know I'm not a big Avery Johnson fan, but his quote about Brook Lopez that surfaced yesterday is one of my favorites of all time. If you catch my "on pace for" tweets about Lopez on Twitter and enjoy them, then I'm sure you'll like this too.
"I dream about our center getting 10 rebounds," Johnson said, when asked if he dreamed about Carmelo Anthony playing for the Nets. In case you haven't been paying attention to just how bad Lopez has been, he has just one double-double this season. Pathetic.
Injury Updates
Dirk Nowitzki (knee) is still a game-time decision for Wednesday against the Pacers and I'm guessing the Mavericks aren't going to let us know his status until lineups are due 10 minutes before the game. I'm also going to go out on a limb and guess he doesn't play tonight.
Kevin Garnett (calf) is now doubtful for Wednesday's game against the Kings, according to Doc Rivers. This one is kind of weird, as it sounded like he was good to go for Monday at one point last weekend. Maybe he suffered a setback, or maybe he was just overly optimistic.
Monta Ellis missed another practice on Tuesday with the flu and is iffy for tonight against the Lakers, although Keith Smart says he's a go for tonight. Make sure he's in your lineup unless we hear differently before game time.
Tyreke Evans missed Tuesday's game with his sprained ankle, leaving him questionable for tonight against the Celtics. He says he's going to try to play through it, but Evans has a recent habit of consistently letting us down.
Gerald Wallace is set to return to action tonight from his ankle injury, and while I'm not expecting a monster line, I think he should be in lineups tonight.
Andray Blatche left last night's game with a sprained shoulder after scoring 16 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. He's day-to-day and questionable for Thursday night at Minnesota.
Michael Beasley tried to play through his sprained ankle on Tuesday and aggravated the injury, which is not good news. He could miss several games now, and probably shouldn't have been in uniform last night. I'll be surprised if he plays again this week.
Danilo Gallinari is hoping to return from his knee injury on Friday or Monday, so think about grabbing him if he was dropped in your league.
www.miamiheat.ws
Kevin Martin (wrist) and Brad Miller (knee) have been ruled out again for the Rockets on Wednesday.
Ben Wallace is out tonight, so look for more goodies from Greg Monroe, who has three straight double-doubles. Now that Monroe is coming on and Austin Daye is seeing some minutes, my 30-team league is suddenly heating up.
The Hawks were able to fly into Toronto so they should be good to go tonight.
Melo
The supposed deal that would send Carmelo Anthony to the Nets for Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi and 15 players may never happen. It doesn't sound like Melo really wants to go to Jersey, but then again, I'm not sure he even knows what he really wants. And now the Knicks are fully back in play, with Amare Stoudemire chirping in Melo's ear in hopes of recruiting him. In any case, as with all trade rumors, it doesn't make a lot of sense to waste time trying to predict the future or figure out who is going where. Yes, Melo, Chauncey Billups and Troy Murphy are all very likely to be moving at some point, but where and when is anyone's guess.
Keep reading for fantasy game recaps.
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Game News
Lakers Dismantle Cavs
The Lakers destroyed the Cavaliers last night by a score of 112-57, prompting LeBron James to hit Twitter, rambling of 'God' and 'Karma.' Kobe Bryant played through his sore knee and had 13 points, while virtually every Laker had a good time last night. The Cavs were led by Alonzo Gee's 12 points and eight boards, and the fact Byron Scott's team laid this kind of egg in front of his people at Staples Center is not going to sit well with him or the Lakers. And while it's not likely, it's even possible that this single loss could negatively impact Scott's chances of taking over for Phil Jackson in L.A. when he finally shuts it down. The Cavs are bad. Real bad. And things aren't going to get better for a long, long time. And they basically have one person to thank. And it's not God or Karma. And according to the responses I got to this one on Twitter, it's a toss up between LeBron, Danny Ferry and Dan Gilbert.
Young Outshoots Beno
Beno Udrih had 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting in a tough, OT loss to the Wizards, who got a career night from Nick Young. Remember when Paul Westphal was jerking Beno's chain and screwing with his playing time? It looks like he's figured out he needs Beno on the court. As for Young, he blew up for 43 points and seven 3-pointers on 14-of-22 shooting. Hopefully you had him in your lineup, as I get the sense he was dropped in a lot of leagues last week. Francisco Garcia stayed hot with 26 points and deserves a look in most leagues. He's averaging 15.3 points, 1.1 steals, 1.3 blocks and 2.2 threes in nine games as a starter, so it would be nice if Paul Westphal would listen to my man @MattStroup and keep him in the lineup. Carl Landy scored a season-high 23, and DeMarcus Cousins struggled to hit just 4-of-19 shots in the loss. And Landry's nice line means that Jason Thompson played just 12 minutes and picked up four quick fouls. It seems like these two are going to trade good games the rest of the way.
John Wall had 22 points, six boards and nine dimes despite some cramping late in the win. If he can stay healthy the rest of the way he's going to have a huge second half, making him an excellent buy-low snag for those of you lucky enough to have picked him up over the last few weeks.
Pacers Beat Sixers
Darren Collison blew up for 21 points and a season-high 13 assists in a win over the Sixers. It's about time, as Collison finally showed us what he's capable of for the first time this season. It's nice to know we weren't delusional when predicting big things for him this year, and it's possible that he's finally come to terms on how to deal with the head games that Jim O'Brien has been playing with him. Tyler Hansbrough had 12 points and nine boards in another start, while Danny Granger had a full stat line in the win.
Andre Iguodala finally returned to action last night, but missed all seven of his shots, finishing with just a single point and seven assists. It's great news that he's back, but that Achilles injury is going to linger all year and he deserves some consideration, along with my man Brook Lopez, for fantasy bust of the year. Andres Nocioni admirably tried to play through his broken finger, but lasted just three minutes. Jrue Holiday flirted with another triple-double last night. He's having a very nice season after a shaky start and I hope he was in your lineup with just two games this week.
Spurs Spank Wolves
Kevin Love had 20 points and 20 boards for his sixth 20-20 game of the season. Dwight Howard led the league with three of them last year, which should tell you that Love is a very, very good player. He's also knocking down a ton of threes, and if he ever figures out how to squeeze a block per game into his line, he becomes a Top 5 fantasy player.
Darko Milicic stunk it up again and can be dropped if you're in good shape at center. I'm hanging onto him, but it's probably because I don't like myself. Darko says he's got a sinus infection that has bothered him all season, which would be one of the longest sinus infections of all time. Come on, man. The Spurs and their boring fantasy box score were led by Richard Jefferson's 17 points.
Nuggets Crush Suns
Arron Afflalo, playing through a sore ankle, blew up for a career-high 31 points last night, hitting 11-of-14 shots and two threes. He's having a real nice season, although he also tends to be inconsistent, as most shooters are. He also stands to see a boost in value if Carmelo Anthony gets traded, so make sure he's on a roster in your league. Ty Lawson had 16 points off the bench to go along with six boards and five assists. If Chauncey Billups ever gets shipped out of Denver, Lawson will be
the man. Kenyon Martin and Chris Andersen returned from sore knees but combined for just six points and six boards. Stay away.
Channing Frye had 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting last night, but he should be owned in most leagues now that he's back in the starting lineup for the Suns. Marcin Gortat and Robin Lopez continued to stink it up, and neither of them should be considered must-own players at this point. Grant Hill sat this one out with a sprained ankle, but has missed just two games in his last three seasons. He wanted to play, and shouldn't be out long. Jared Dudley, who has been hot, hit just 2-of-6 shots for seven points. I get a lot of questions about picking him up, or owning him, but as long as he's coming off the bench, I really don't trust Dudley.
Knicks Cruise Over Blazers
Raymond Felton suffered what is being called a "high ankle sprain" last night, but played through it. He also says he's playing tonight, which tells me he probably doesn't have a true high ankle sprain. He also had 14 dimes and zero turnovers, which will quietly go down as one of the best point guard lines in Knicks history. Hopefully his ankle allows him to play tonight. Ronny Turiaf blew up for a season-high 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds, three steals and a couple blocks in the win. His knee is finally getting healthy and Mike D'Antoni might finally be ready to start using the big man. I still don't think he's a guy you break down doors to get to, but if you have some excess baggage on your roster and could use a center, grab him.
Rudy Fernandez scored 18 off the bench, Marcus Camby had 16 boards and six blocks, while Wesley Matthews struggled on 2-of-13 shooting. Nicolas Batum quiety scored 13 points, but played a whopping 41 minutes. I still think he's on the verge of blowing up.
