Fantasy related but good info......
Aldridge & Gordon are gimpy
Monday night was a very interesting one in the NBA and actually caused more confusion and created more questions than anything else. Chris Paul and Tim Duncan gave their owners mild heart attacks, the Bucks and Scott Skiles pulled one over on us, suckering people, including me, to buy into Corey Maggette, while Eric Gordon didn't travel with the Clippers for tonight's game. He might play, but then again, he might not.
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Big Names Hit The Deck[/SIZE]
Chris Paul rolled his ankle late in last night's thrilling win over the Thunder, as David West's fadeaway 19-footer won the game and stole the headlines. Paul had 24 points and nine dimes, but his ankle injury is now a concern. He played through it and said afterwards that he will "be all right," but owners will want to watch for updates today in case it swelled up over night.
Tim Duncan dropped to the floor and lay motionless while holding his left knee last night. I thought he was really hurt and it looked like DeJuan Blair was suddenly going to be a must-own player. But Duncan got up, walked off the court under his own power and started the second half. Crisis avoided.
Eric Gordon didn't travel with the Clippers but could still join the team in Dallas for tonight's game. His wrist is the biggest issue, while his finger and back are banged up as well. He could certainly use a night off, and we'll be watching @reallisa on Twitter for updates throughout the day.
Jose Calderon was a late scratch last night due to the flu, which is actually good news, as there are concerns about his ankle as well. Jerryd Bayless nearly triple-doubled in his absence, and I'm just sad we didn't get the update a little earlier. Calderon was stuck in two of my lineups, but my guess is he's back on Wednesday when the Raps host Philly.
Brandon Jennings is now targeting a Saturday return from his foot surgery if all goes well in today's practice. Maybe he'll go Wednesday night, but Saturday appears to be a more realistic return date.
LaMarcus Aldridge will have X-rays on his sore right hip after struggling on 4-of-14 shooting for nine points Monday. Watch for updates today.
Ramon Sessions played through his abdominal strain and had 16 points and six assists for the Cavs. Keep him in your lineup.
Al Horford sounds good to go for Wednesday with a sprained ankle, so get him in your lineup unless you hear otherwise before the game.
Andre Miller was back from a stomach problem last night and had 18 points, five boards and five assists. Get him back in your lineup.
Dwyane Wade sounds like he's a go for Thursday after missing a game with a migraine. He practiced wearing shades on Monday, as he's still sensitive to light. Chris Bosh's ankle injury still isn't well and he sounds very iffy (doubtful?) for that one.
Arron Afflalo's left hand injury is bothersome, but X-rays were negative and he expects to play tonight. He's been hot recently, making him worth a close look in most leagues.
Danny Granger's ankle injury doesn't sound too serious and I'm guessing he'll play on Wednesday after leaving Sunday's game early.
Charlie Villanueva remains day-to-day with a sprained ankle and missed Monday's game. Austin Daye stepped up in his absence with 20 points, seven boards and four threes. I wish he got consistent minutes and am not pleased that he was on my bench in a couple deep leagues for his career night. He's worth keeping an eye on, but is still a pretty shaky fantasy starter – at least for now.
Kirk Hinrich (arm/elbow) did not play on Monday and will have an MRI taken on Tuesday to determine a course of action. "He's going to get it reevaluated," Flip Saunders said. John Wall and Nick Young are must-starts anyway, but are even better options as long as Hinrich is out.
There are plenty of other injuries out there and the Rotoworld Injury Report is the place to check in on all of them.
Keep reading for Sluggish Starts to the week, as well as Surprising Starts.
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Sluggish Starts To Week 14[/SIZE]
Andray Blatche looked like a guy who didn't care last night, hitting just 2-of-10 shots for six points and five rebounds. He's going to have to bounce back in his next one or he could be headed for the doghouse. "He was terrible. He was bad," Flip Saunders said of Blatche. "Looked like he didn't have energy or something. When you're a quote-end-quote go-to guy, you can't have those kind of games. You've got to find a way to produce. If he doesn't produce it will put a lot of pressure on us."
Corey Maggette, who was in my lineups, as well as many of yours after a nice run last week, disappeared despite starting last night. He had four points on 1-of-4 shooting in 20 minutes, while guys like Dooling and Chris Douglas-Roberts, who started for John Salmons, went off. I'm not giving up on Maggette yet, but this was not the way we wanted to see him get started. As for CDR, he's very unreliable and I just don't trust him. One of my rules this season was to stay away from Bucks, but I got bamboozled by Skiles and Maggette. Hopefully things go differently on Wednesday against the Hawks.
Carlos Delfino played 31 minutes, but hit just 1-of-5 shots for three points. As with any Bucks player, starting Delfino is risky business.
Vince Carter hit just 1-of-6 shots for two points and is 10-of-40 in his last four games. Yuck. I'm guessing it's just a slump and you should continue to roll with him. Hopefully he knee isn't bothering him again. Marcin Gortat had just two points in 10 minutes against Dwight Howard, which was disappointing. Hopefully he gets back in the mix Wednesday against Charlotte. It still makes no sense to me that he's not in the starting lineup for Phoenix.
Jason Richardson scored six points and Hedo Turkoglu had four as the Magic fell to the Pistons. Yikes. J-Rich has scored eight or less in three of his last four, while Turk has been in single digits in five of his last eight games. Both players were looking like must-starts two weeks ago, but that's no longer the case.
Andre Iguodala hit just 3-of-9 shots for eight points last night, and while it's concerning, you have to keep running him out there as long as he's healthy.
Corey Brewer had just four points in 10 minutes, as he was benched in favor of Wesley Johnson, who blew up for 19 points, two threes, three steals and two blocks in a tough loss to Houston. Brewer was getting fantasy starts with four games, so this was a pretty big letdown. Johnson isn't Mr. Reliable, so it's probably best to get both players benched until we see how this plays out.
Jason Thompson is another guy I have in several lineups and he 'came through' for six points and two rebounds, while Carl Landry got hot and torched the Blazers for 16 points and eight rebounds in 34 minutes. I really thought JT was locked, loaded and ready to go, but apparently Paul Westphal has other ideas. As usual, with four bigs who all play decent minutes (Thompson, Landry, DeMarcus Cousins and Samuel Dalembert), you're going to see inconsistency from your Sacramento bigs.
Rudy Fernandez was just 1-of-10 for two points after playing well recently. He played 25 minutes and should bounce back in the next one.
DeJuan Blair had just four points and four rebounds, as he simply can't get consistent run out of Gregg Popovich. Blair has three double-doubles in his last six games, but has gone 4 & 4, 7 & 6, and 3 & 4 in the other three. And his last two games have been dogs. If you own him, think about keeping him, but he's a total roll of the dice every night.
Andris Biedrins had zero points, four boards and a block last night, as his terrible season continues. I can't see putting him in any starting lineups right now.
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Surprising Performances[/SIZE]
Here are some players who came through for their owners, but were possibly on the bench.
Thaddeus Young had 24 points and a full stat line and has scored between 17 and 24 points in three of his last four. That fourth game saw just two points, but Young is playing well enough to be given a look in many leagues. But he could crawl back into a hole at any time.
Anthony Morrow had 16 points and a three in 26 minutes, and should be moving closer to the starting lineup for the Nets. Pick him up and stash him while you can.
Chuck Hayes kept it going last night with nine points, eight rebounds, seven assists, a steal and a block. He's had at least four assists in five straight games and is averaging nine points, eight rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks over his last seven. If you want to drop Biedrins to get Hayes, it oddly makes sense.
Marcus Thornton had 10 points and two threes on 3-of-12 shooting, but has now hit double digits in scoring in four straight games. He might finally be worth grabbing, but is still not an automatic fantasy starter.
Wilson Chandler broke out of a nasty funk with 25 points, seven rebounds and four 3-pointers in a start for the Knicks. Get him back in your lineup.
Tracy McGrady had 20 points, seven boards, five assists and two steals last night, meaning he's still holding his value. Ben Gordon finally woke up with 16 points and a 3-pointer, but I'd like to see him do it for a week straight before putting him in a lineup. As mentioned earlier, Austin Daye came out of nowhere for 20 points, seven boards, two steals and four 3-pointers, which might force John Kuester to bite the bullet and play him. We'll see.
Ryan Anderson stayed hot with 21 points, five boards, three blocks and four 3-pointers, and should have been in starting lineups this week. The guy is on fire and has attempted 37 threes in his last four games.
David Lee scored a season-high 31 points in the Warriors' 113-102 loss to the Spurs on Monday, hitting 13-of-19 shots from the field to go with 12 rebounds, one assist, and one block. Maybe he's finally healthy and ready to do this on a regular basis.
Kurt Thomas blew up for a season-high 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists. How and why doesn't make sense, but he has had some nice games this season. However, there's no way I'd roll the dice on him right now, and one look at his game log will tell you why. He's rebounding pretty well, but this was just his second double-digit scoring line all season.
Marc Gasol did it again last night, going off for 17 points, eight boards, four assists and four blocks after going for 24 points, 16 boards and three blocks in his previous game. He had been pretty mediocre until these two games, which came against Andrew Bogut and Andrea Bargnani. Maybe he's ready to start rolling, and he could have a good game against Brook Lopez and the Nets on Wednesday.
DeMar DeRozan stayed hot with 25 points, nine boards, a steal and two blocks, and has been one of the fantasy surprises of the season.
Jeff Green broke out of a season-long funk with 19 points, seven boards and two threes last night, and this is hopefully a sign he's ready to start playing like he was drafted. It's been a tough road for Green and his owners this season, meaning he was probably on your bench last night.
Nicolas Batum was solid again with 16 points, nine boards and two more threes. Keep running him out there until further notice.
Omri Casspi was a hot pickup over the weekend and got another start for injured Francisco Garcia (calf) on Monday, and scored 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting with two threes and seven rebounds. He did most of his damage in a quick run, but still produced. Hopefully he keeps it going.
Darko Milicic is healthy again and playing pretty well. He had 15 points, six boards and a block last night, and is averaging 11.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, a steal and 2.1 blocks in January. His free throws and turnovers are terrible, but he's shooting it much better from the floor, knocking down 54.4 percent of his shots over the last three weeks.
Luke Ridnour had 18 points, four assists and three 3-pointers last night, and has hit double digits in scoring in all but three January games. Jonny Flynn is not pushing him and he looks like a safe player to own the rest of the way.
Jared Dudley scored 23 points off the Suns' bench on Monday, hitting 8-of-15 shots from the field (including a three) with seven rebounds and one assist in 37 minutes of action. He's either on or off, with most of his productivity coming on nights when he's feeling it and his teammates are not. He's played well in two straight, but just 3, 5 and 8 points in his previous three games.
Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 30 points but had scored 0, 5, 6, 2, 8 and 0 points in his previous six games. He had 24 and 30 points in his two games prior to disappearing, so don't expect last night's explosion to carry forward. Especially once John Salmons is back from his mysterious hip injury. Keyon Dooling had 13 points, 10 assists and four more 3-pointers, but he's going to disappear when Jennings is back and fully healthy.
Ersan Ilyasova was nice last night with 17 points, a three and a block, but had scored a total of 26 points over his previous four games. Like the rest of this teammates, he's just too inconsistent to plan on using on a regular basis.
There were plenty of other nice performances from bigger names on Monday, but that's what those guys are supposed to do, right? Good luck on Tuesday.
