Fantasy related but good info......
No Melo On Wednesday
Three's Not The Magic Number
Brandon Roy will miss at least three more games when it was announced he won't travel with the Blazers on their upcoming road trip due to his fried knee. This further makes me wonder why Roy thinks he has any say in who his teammates are, as he's going to be unreliable for the rest of his career. Meanwhile, Rudy Fernandez has stepped up in his absence, averaging 18.6 points, 6.3 assists and 2.6 3-pointers in his last three. Nicolas Batum should also be about ready to step up his game with Roy out. But Fernandez looks like a better pick up right now.
Curry Hoping For Saturday
Stephen Curry is still targeting Saturday for a return from his sprained ankle. I'm going to go ahead and put him back in my lineups for weekly leagues starting Monday and you should too. Hopefully he was off long enough that the ankle won't be an issue going forward, but let's see what happens on Saturday.
Nuggets Back At Full Strength, Minus Melo
Carmelo Anthony missed practice with a sore elbow but was set to play on Wednesday against the Spurs. However, that changed when he was excused for a death in the family, so he
won't play tonight. However, Chauncey Billups (wrist), Kenyon Martin (knee) and Chris Andersen (knee) are all expected back tonight. Ty Lawson is clearly in better shape than Billups is right now and my guess is he will outplay him tonight. And if Billups aggravates his wrist injury, which is very possible, Lawson would become a must-own player again.
No Surgery For Vinsanity
Vince Carter has reportedly decided against surgery but may take a few games off to let his knee heal. Jared Dudley should continue to be relevant until you see Vince in the starting five for the Suns.
Welcome To The Jungle
Ben Gordon has replaced Richard Hamilton as the Pistons' starting shooting guard. I'm fine with dumping Rip for Ben, but am not expecting any miracles out of Gordon, who has failed to live up to the hype for the last two seasons. Maybe a starting job will help get him back on track.
Darko Milicic is questionable for tonight against the Jazz with a sprained ankle but he lasted just five minutes in his previous game. It would be smart for him to take tonight off and then use three full days of rest to get fully healthy.
Terrence Williams has yet to play for the Rockets, but they have four days off after tonight's game. T-Will should get some practice in with his new team and start getting some run, but that's still not ideal for fantasy owners. If you are still holding him and want to pick up another player, make the move.
Hold the Mayo
Lionel Hollins has no intentions of putting O.J. Mayo back in the starting lineup. Mayo's been playing well lately, but will be a tough fantasy start off the bench.
D.C. Debut
Rashard Lewis is expected to make his Wizards debut tonight, which will come off the bench for now. I doubt he stays on the bench for long, but who knows, with what's going on in Orlando.
www.miamiheat.ws
Trade Talk
The Mavericks are now said to be interested in renting Carmelo for the second half and playoffs, but they'll face stiff competition from the Knicks, Nets and Nuggets for his services.
Devin Harris could end up going to the Charlotte Bobcats if the Nets land Carmelo Anthony. That would obviously hurt the value of D.J. Augustin, who has been pretty inconsistent anyway. While this is just trade talk, it does make sense that the struggling Bobcats will try to make a move for a new playmaker. Think about moving Augustin if you can.
Dwight Howard has his "eye on the Lakers" in a couple years if the Magic don't win a title by then. And given this latest shakeup for the Magic, who now don't have a backup center, nor anyone who can guard Dwyane Wade or Kobe Bryant, Howard might want to start packing up his stuff.
Keep reading for Game Recaps
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Game Recaps[/SIZE]
Merry Christmas, Warriors. Love, the Kings
Beno Udrih scored a career-high 34 on 11-of-18 shooting with four threes and seven rebounds in Tuesday's overtime loss to the Warriors. The Kings really choked this game away, which still didn't look losable with a minute left on the clock. Francisco Garcia took an ill-advised three that ended up setting the Warriors up and Vladimir Radmanovic, who actually played very well last night, hit a game-tying three at the buzzer in a crazy finish. Monta Ellis finished with 36 points, seven dimes, four steals and two threes, and is clearly enjoying life without Stephen Curry. Carl Landry got hot off the Kings bench last night while DeMarcus Cousins struggled. Good luck figuring the big-man situation out for Paul Westphal, who can't seem to make up his mind about anything.
Reggie Williams scored 24 for the Warriors, Dorell Wright added 17 and Lou Amundson somehow managed to foul out in 13 minutes. And good old Vlad Rad finished with 15 points, three 3-pointers, eight rebounds and three steals in 28 minutes. Go ahead and put him on radar, along with Ekpe Udoh, who played 23 minutes and blocked three shots.
Really, Lakers?
The Lakers lost at home to the Bucks in one of the most shocking upsets of the season thus far. Kobe Bryant was ejected for arguing and Andrew Bynum was quiet while playing through his sore, rebuilt knee. Earl Boykins scored 22 off the bench for the Bucks, hitting 8-of-12 shots with two assists. Meanwhile, my favorites Chris Douglas-Roberts (6 points in 25 minutes) and Keyon Dooling (8 points, 2 threes, 5 assists) weren't so great. Ersan Ilyasova double-doubled with 17 points and 11 boards, Andrew Bogut and John Salmons played well, and Drew Gooden was sent home for more treatment on his bum foot. All this really does is reconfirm that it will be impossible to rely on any Bucks this season who are not named Bogut. Are Boykins and Ilyasova worth a look right now? Probably, but let's see them do it again before picking them up.
Sasha
Sasha Vujacic scored a season-high 16 points for the Nets last night in 25 minutes off the bench. I have no idea what Avery Johnson is doing. Vujacic, who doesn't play defense, is relevant, Stephen Graham is starting, Jordan Farmar has become unstartable, Derrick Favors appears to be stepping further away from a starting job instead of closer to one, Troy Murphy doesn't get enough run on most nights to even be blurb-worthy on Rotoworld, and Kris Humphries is still double-doubling. And the craziest part of this whole thing? The Nets have won two straight games.
Sixers Implosion
The Sixers were destroyed by the Bulls last night and their entire box score can basically be ignored. As someone who picked up Spencer Hawes recently, I can share in your misery if you own him. But I am not surprised and think I remember cautioning that he is historically inconsistent, as well as a maddening fantasy player to own. Kurt Thomas started for the Bulls and had 12 points, eight rebounds and five blocks in the scrimmage, but should disappear tonight, when Taj Gibson is expected to play through his concussion.
Mavs Stop Magic
The Mavericks beat the Magic last night but Dwight Howard didn't go down without a fight, finishing with 26 points, 23 rebounds and two blocks. Brandon Bass came off the bench, not so that Gilbert Arenas could start. Nope. Bass was benched so that J.J. Redick could start. Redick responded with 21 points and four threes. I find it hard to believe he'll have many more games like this with Arenas around, so I'm not recommending he be picked up. Bass' benching was quite troubling and it's quickly becoming clear that Stan Van Gundy hasn't figured out what he's doing with his lineup and rotation. Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu were quiet again, while Jameer Nelson had another good game. I'm getting questions about dropping Arenas and other guys, but we have to let the dust settle in Orlando. I seriously doubt Arenas is going to be irrelevant there for too long, so just hang onto him. But yes, last night's 1-of-6 shooting in 17 minutes was not fun.
Durant Heating Up
Kevin Durant hit 8-of-13 shots for 32 points, seven boards, three assists, a steal, a block and two 3-pointers in a win over the Bobcats. Russell Westbrook hit just 5-of-13 shots with seven turnovers, three rebounds and four assists. Is it me or is Durant catching fire and Westbrook cooling off? I don't think it's just me and this was due to happen, as Durant has started slowly in all three of his seasons, while Westbrook was playing at too high of a level to keep it going. I'm not saying Westbrook is a guy you'll want to move and there's still a good chance he goes on a couple more hot streaks this season. But Durant is locked, loaded and ready for take off.
For the Bobcats, Kwame Brown started and had nine points, five boards and a block in 31 minutes, while Derrick Brown added 11 points, six boards and six steals. If you're thinking about picking either Brown up, I hope your league has 14 or more teams in it. D.J. Augustin was benched last night and Larry Brown said his two back ups (Shaun Livingston and Sherron Collins) were going to get more run going forward. Again, Augustin is clearly the best of the group, but this is just another sign that it might be time to trade him.
