Game Notes: 11/14

Utah – 96 at Charlotte – 104

Missing Deron, AK, and Memo, the Jazz still nearly pulled out a win over the Bobcats. Carlos Boozer provided 26 points and 15 rebounds on very nice %’s. Kosta Koufos took advantage of the extra PT and undersized opposition to put up 9-10 with 5 blocks. Paul Millsap and Ronnie Price were decent, but nothing special and the rest of the Jazz either failed to register mentionable numbers, or ruined their nice stats with atrocious %’s etc. J-Rich missed the game due to exploratory knee surgery (expected to miss a week… I like how J-Rich has knee surgery and misses a week, but Michael Redd tweaks his ankle and puts himself on indefinite IR), and Raymond Felton took advantage, posting one of his best lines of the year with 23-3-6-3-0. Gerald Wallace had a nice line as well, while Okafor managed to foul out in 24 minutes. Sean May returned to the starting line up, which makes the ritual fat joke difficult to pull off… but he only played 19 minutes, probably because he couldn’t see his toes! SO THERE!

Things to watch: Adam Morrison has somehow, in spite of his pedophilic profile picture on Yahoo!, put together a few nice scoring lines of late. With J-Rich out for a little bit he could be worth a pick up if you need 3’s or points. Especially against Dallas next Tuesday because good GOD does Dallas suck right now.

Philadelphia – 94 at Indiana – 92

Playing without Mike Dunleavy finally caught up to the Pacers, as they built a huge first quarter league and then saw Thad Young (by himself essentially) take it apart. In addition to the 25-10, Thad added a block and a steal, and only one TO! The rest of the starters were pretty underwhelming save the blocks/steals for Miller, Iggy, and Brand. Marquis Daniels, TJ Ford, and Danny Granger all had nice lines that were flawed in some way or another (by TO’s, FG% or some such). Troy Murphy returned but only played 15 minutes. This moved Jeff Foster to the bench, but Foster still collected a double double and continued to surprise with blocked shots. Foster’s run should be officially over (temporarily at least) in a few games though, once Murphy gets back up to speed.

Samuel Davis Dalembert: What a tosser. He has been awful this week, and tonight it wasn’t even because of foul trouble, simply because he was loafing and playing generally terrible. He isn’t droppable, but wow is he annoying. (ps – if he plays like this much longer he will be droppable)

Atlanta – 108 at New Jersey – 115

Joe Johnson put up a great all around line on strong %’s, Marvin Williams had a nice little number going as well until he missed a handful of shots down the stretch, Al Horford was comparatively quiet to his other PF games, and Flip Murray gave strong numbers in relief of foul ridden Mike Bibby. Devin Harris returned tonight, and combined with Vince Carter for 28 trips to the free throw line, and joined Vince once again in approaching a triple double. Brook “Uglier than Robert Swift?” Lopez started, and posted an impressive line of 29-9-2-2-4 on lovely %’s and zero TO’s in 34 minutes. Ryan Anderson had a hot shooting night in 26 minutes off the bench, and Yi did very little in a possibly foul influenced 19 minutes.

NJ Front court: So Lopez and Anderson killed it tonight, Josh Boone missed the game with injury, Sean Williams is rumored to be on his way to the… OH, and Stromile Swift is talking about returning next week! In other words it is business as usual in the Nets front court, and while giving Lopez and Yi all the PT they can handle would make the most sense to me… Yeah, anyone you pick up here is risky. I still can’t figure out why they signed Najera?

Washington – 77 at Miami – 97

I will say Antawn Jamison had a nice line… but wow… this may be the least fantasy conducive game of the year. Miami did fine, but Washington was out of it early because their good players were terrible, then they brought in their terrible players but mixed the PT around so evenly that Oleksiy Pecherov had the second best line on the team. Yuck. Dwyane Wade’s streak of 30+ point games came to an end, but only because he was limited to 30 minutes due to the blow out. Mario Chalmers had his first definitely positive game in awhile, Beasley and Haslem were essentially business as usual, and Shawn Marion returned to post a decent line (considering how he was playing before the injury, and discounting the 4 TO’s, I think we can agree that this line was decent).

Oklahoma City – 106 at New York – 116

This game wasn’t as close as that score may lead you to believe. The Knicks had a 24 point lead at half time and seemed to just nurse it for the majority of the second half. Jeff Green had an AWFUL first half, missing all 8 of his shots, but bounced back in the second to finish with a decent line of 16-8-4-2-0, if he could pick up his FG% he would be an awesome PF option (he is already a pretty good one considering draft position etc.). Kevin Durant continued to do what he has been doing… ie score inefficiently and not much else. Earl Watson had another quiet but useful line, and Robert Swift started and must have terrified anyone who attempted to box him out because he finished the game with 13 boards. The real story for OKC though, is Russell Westbrook. Posting 19-10-6-1-1 with a three, on nice %’s and 3 TO’s, he had what is easily his best game of the season… But it did come primarily against NYC’s bench. Crawford and Z-Bo continued to slay for the Knicks, Q continued to do nothing in substantial PT, and Duhon repeated what is beginning to look like his regular line. Nate Robinson had a strong game off the bench, and D-Lee was mediocre. Wilson Chandler had a bit of a down night, but nothing to scoff at (why do the Knicks have so many fantasy relevant players???)

Portland – 82 at New Orleans – 87

Well… CP3 had what some may call his worst line of the season, but if 17-6-9-4-0 with zero threes and zero TO’s, on 4/12FG and 9/9FT is the worst game he has this year, I think I can live with that. The real story in terms of worst in Nola is the rest of their starting line up. West had nice %’s but really didn’t do anything else, Peja and Tyson were shadows of their expected selves, and Mo-Pete… well I guess Mo-Pete did about what is expected from him. The only line that really sticks out on Portland’s side is Oden’s 11-11 +4 blocks, I don’t know if this will make ESPN finally shut up about him and how “OMG Portland totally sucks without him”, or if it will just feed the fire, but whatever the case, good for him. Roy and Aldridge were good but unspectacular. Rudy had a down night, being inconsistent as most bench players are… Extending that theme further, Sergio Rodriguez had 7 assists (but I would not advise picking him up).

A guy of note: He is probably long gone in your league (he has even owned in my public league!), so this is probably worthless advice… but check and see if James Posey is an FA. He has been canning 2+ threes with much regularity, and unless you are in a league with <10>

Milwaukee – 101 at Memphis – 96 (OT)

Mbama started again, pairing a massive double double (19-17) with an ugly FG% (6/16). That FG% has NOTHING on Richard Jefferson’s 8/26 doozie though (seriously man, STOP SHOOTING), Sessions and Ridnour each put up nice lines, and Bogut competed with Jefferson for “ugliest double double of the night” by registering 7 TO’s (before fouling out in the fourth). OJ Mayo is the Grizzlies best player. I did not think I would be saying that… ever? But the disciplined shot selection (or just the ability to make awful shots) has put him on a level that I am afraid Rudy Gay not only will never reach, but whose existence he is not even aware of. Marc Gasol had a nice line, Mike Conley is beginning to show signs of life, and Hakim Warrick was decent off the bench, but everyone else on Memphis was awful. If the Bucks had not had two guys who seemed bent on trying to lose the game (Jefferson and Bogut) I do not think this one would have been close at all.

Injury Note: Charlie V missed this game with a hamstring injury. In limited searching I could not find anything regarding the severity, but rotoworld is guessing “day-to-day”. Hopefully Charlie uses a different doctor than Michael Redd. By which I mean, hopefully Charlie doesn’t make regular visits to a gynecologist.

Denver – 94 at Boston – 85

Billups and Melo each had nice games. Nene continued to slaughter hustle stats by collecting 5 steals, and K-Mart did much of the same but to a lesser degree and with damaged efficiency. Ray Allen had a very nice game, Pierce and KG were decent, and Rondo rocked the house with 7 steals, 7 assists and 2 points (!!!). Eddie House had a nice line off the bench and seems to have taken over Tony Allen’s sixth man role.

Things to watch: Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman each logged more PT than either JR Smith or Linas Kleiza, and each by a wide margin (~28 min vs ~18 min). I don’t know if this is going to turn into a regular thing, with the Nuggets slowing things down and paying a little more attention to defense with AI out of town, or if Georgie just wants to piss off Smith and Kleiza (I mean Carter… sure, he’s a PG, but Balkman is only good at running and jumping man). I think I am the only person who still owns Kleiza, but if this continues, JR Smith will definitely be a guy who you want to look at replacing, as his production will be way inconsistent (which brings tears to my eyes after how strong his start to the season was).

Orlando – 102 at Dallas – 100

The Mavs suck. That is all there is to it. Dirk got 4 boards in the first 4 minutes of the first quarter and did not get another one until the last 3 minutes of the game. They should have won this game, they just turned it over half a dozen times down the stretch. It really seems like they are just not in shape to play the style they are trying to play in. It works great for a quarter or two, but by the time the fourth quarter rolls around their legs are dead, they can’t score, they settle for awful shots and miss all of them, they get lazy on defense (and even more so on the defensive glass)… just ugly. Josh had a decent game, Dirk was ok in the scoring cats, Jason Terry missed a lot of shots, and Jason Kidd had his worst line of the season. Dwight was held in check for most of the game, Turkey Glue lost his bet to Okafor by fouling out in 27 minutes (3 more than it took Okafor), Jameer scored 21 in about the least helpful way possible, Rashard proved how inept the Mavs defense is by somehow getting to the line 10 times (ie more than last four games combined), and Pietrus turned in a gem of a game hitting 5 threes on his way to 20-9 with lovely %’s.

Lineup note: Gerald Green started tonight, and Jason Terry returned to the bench. If I were coaching the Mavs, I would stick with this lineup as it covers for some of the defensive issues without having to play the abysmal Antione Wright… But then again, if I were running the Mavs I would have NEVER traded Devin Harris. Kidd is fun to watch, but this team is horrendous. They should trade Dirk to Golden State for Harrington, at least then I won’t have to watch Dirk suffer as the non-Kidd guards masturbate the ball around the perimeter for 20 seconds before dumping it to him and running away to prepare to play terrible defense on marginally talented opponents.

Houston – 75 at San Antonio – 77

Aaron Brooks started for suspended Rafer Alston and gave an underwhelming 14-8-3-1 with 2 threes on 6/17 from the field in 40 minutes. T-Mac continues his campaign to be the most popular player who gets benched with some regularity by chucking 12 bricks (2 of which somehow made it in) in 24 minutes. No report of injury… perhaps he is embarrassed by how Shaq totally creamed him the other night, and was afraid some of that mojo had rubbed off on Matt Bonner? Ron Artest and Yao led the remaining severely underwhelming Rockets fantasy lines with disappointing lines themselves. George Hill absolutely killed it for San Antonio, putting up a spotless 17-6-5. Roger Mason’s starting line up shooting woes, and uncanny rebounding ability were both present as he collected an oddly unsatisfying 9-9-2 with 2 threes. Tim Duncan had a quiet but respectable evening, and the only other stat of note is Matt Bonner canning 3 threes (his PT has been too erratic to warrant a pick up, I just like talking about Matt Bonner).

Phoenix – 97 at Sacramento – 95 (OT)

Decimated by suspensions, and death, the Suns line up was a shell of its usual self tonight. Raja Bell collected a line like olde tymes, but it took 48 minutes and the absence of Matt Barnes and Leandro. Shaq put up a line that I did not think he was capable of at this point in his career, posting a straight up Duncan like 29-13-6. Grant Hill was nice as well, but turned it over 7 times (4 steals though, so not too bad). Amare really struggles when Shaq eats all of his shots and Nash is not there to make him share. John Salmons had an ultra slick 21-4-5-4-1, Udrih continued his string of good play, Brad Miller struggled with his shot but posted a game high 7 assists, and in 38 minutes off the bench Spencer Hawes collected a double double +3 blocks.

Detroit – 106 at LA Lakers – 95

Kwame Brown started again and posted a friggin double double. EAT THAT LAKERS! I bet you regret trading him for Pau Gasol now!!!! Rasheed had a huge game, and all of the other Piston starters followed suit, all excelling in the categories we love them for. The most significant stat on the Pistons bench was Amir’s DNP-CD. Kobe had a classic Kobe line sans FTA’s, Pau had a nice line blemished by a couple of missed FT’s, and Trevor Ariza was dynamite off the bench again. Everyone else struggled from the field… and somehow the Lakers out fouled the Pistons 30-21. Whatevah, not much to talk about here.

Game Notes: 11/13

I would have had this up earlier but I was distracted by the movie TNT put on after inside the NBA. Starring Ice T, John C. McGinley and GARY BUSEY in some sort of "most dangerous game" rip off story. It is not a good movie, but with lines like "I sleep in a bed spit head" and "Stop being a chicken spit dog and pull the mother jumping trigger", and similar edits (the humor of which has been a long time trademark of the Turner networks. Check out Kill Bill the next time it is on TNT for an even better example).




Denver – 99 at Cleveland – 110

Chauncey Billups had a nearly flawless line, JR Smith had his first positive outing in recent times, and K-Mart returned to action to give a double double and two steals in 35 minutes, but it wasn’t enough to give Denver a victory against a Cavs team that shot 57% from the field (of course, Melo’s cold shooting night and 6 TO’s didn’t help much either). LeBron came very close to his self-proclaimed “ideal line” with 22-8-11 although he was hampered slightly by 5 TO’s and 2/4 from the line (not too bad since he also shot 50% from the field). Mo Williams started the game hot and finished with 24 points, 6 assists and 2 TO’s (oddly enough, the TO number is the most refreshing of the group to see). Boobie had nice scoring stats off the bench, and Varejao added a useful 6-8 on 2/2 from the field and the line.

Side note: K-Mart was ejected on a flagrant 2 that was total hogwash with about a minute to go. I can’t remember the rules for suspensions in situations such as this, but if there is anything right in the world Stu Jackson will look at tape of this and reprimand power trippin Joey Crawford instead of the victimized K-Mart.




Dallas – 91 at Chicago – 99

Much like two nights ago, Dallas started super hot and then just evaporated… only tonight they also got floored by Ben Gordon. Josh Howard returned to the lineup and had a wonderful line going through 12 minutes, but eventually decimated his FG% to a frightening low, allowing him to turn in what might be the most difficult to swallow double double of the year. Dirk and JET had nice lines if you discount their lack of points due to awful shooting performances, even Kidd struggled to pull something useful out of this game. Erick Dampier however, oh did he shine! Taking advantage of both teams converting buckets at an atrocious rate, damp ate glass and did his best Dwight Howard impersonation, finishing with 16-18-1-1-3. Ben Gordon SLAYED tonight, collection 35-2-4 with 2 threes on golden %’s. Tyrus Thomas was actually pretty good coming off the bench tonight. Derrick Rose struggled shooting… kind of, his line overall was great, he did go 2/4 from the line but that can be attributed to his undeniable excitement over the start of the college season and his close ties to the University where he spent one year, which was plenty to get a sense of strong traditions such as missing free throws.

Weird rotation things: Joakim Noah started, picked up 2 quick fouls, was pulled… and never returned. No reports of injury, and no clue what to expect in the next Bulls game.

Side note: Larry Hughes returned to action tonight, but posted a hardly noticeable 5-2 with a three and a steal in 12 minutes.




Detroit – 107 at Golden State – 102

Kwame Brown (!!!) started for the Pistons, but did very little. The other Detroit starters (usual suspects, AI/RIP/Prince/Sheed) were all awesome in their own ways. Sheed hit threes, blocked shots and scored. Tayshaun didn’t score much, but paired a block and a steal with 16 boards. AI put in phenomenal volume on an ugly FG%. RIP was out of his mind nearly getting a triple double to go with his sexy as usual %’s and surprising 4 steals. The Warriors struggled shooting, but Biedrins collected another monster double double with 17-19. Azubuike scored well but didn’t support it with anything. Stephen Jackson’s line was essentially the same as AI’s with fewer points.

Rotation news: Corey Maggette returned for the Warriors tonight, and CJ Watson started, but Kelenna remained in the starting line up. Maggette’s minutes should inflate beyond the 28 he received tonight very soon. Brandan Wright was decent off the bench, but nothing spectacular as he only received 17 minutes (a number that led all bench players). The only thing that I can see changing with this line up is Watson going to the bench, Jackson to PG and Wright to PF. Marcus Williams looked fat, lazy and mentally unfit for even the most menial of food service jobs in his 4 minutes, and DeMarcus Nelson didn’t dress… so for now (which means today) Nellie does not seem pleased with his team’s PG situation. Of course, predicting Nellie is impossible, so take all of this with a grain of salt (or several).

Game Notes: 11/12

There are a lot of games to get to, and I am sure that some of you follow this blog, but I have to call attention to Free Darko. Their book dropped yesterday, and between receiving mine in the mail yesterday afternoon and now I have read about ¾ of it, and it is amazing. Mixing statistical minutiae such as Gilbert Arenas increasing 3pt% as he gets further from the basket (up to and including 38 feet), with semi subjective analysis of the personal style that make a handful of the games best players so great. I mean there is a guide on how to interpret Kobe Bryant’s career milestones (on and off court) for the Kobe love vs. the Kobe hater, a simple chart that breaks down the gothic dimensions of Tim Duncan (American Gothic, Gothic architecture, Visigoth Barbarians, Goth subculture), charts that attempt to objectively prove every thing from a player’s “cancer effect” (win differential of team left versus team joined), “chaos factor” (take blocks steals and TO’s, then find how many times a player has done T+1 of any combination of those three in T minutes (ie two blocks in one minute, one block one steal one TO in three minutes, etc)) to why no one even knows who Joe Johnson is, much less actually likes him. And that is just the beginning; there is still a break down of the 2000 draft as the worst draft of all time, a media package for a future Stephen Jackson mayoral campaign in his hometown of Port Arthur TX, a glossary of Amare’s tattoos, a separate glossary of several popular terms and players who were not covered elsewhere in the book such as “Iverson, Allen – The personification of every reason uninformed people give for why they prefer NCAA basketball to the NBA. Also credited with single-handedly destroying the league after Jordan’s second retirement.”, “Wade, Dwyane – Explosive Miami guard who somehow still manages to be boring as hell”, and perhaps my personal favorite “Butler, Caron – Tough as nails Wizards forward who promised himself to basketball while in the hole at juvy. Favorite player of indie rockers Stephen Malkmus and Janet Weiss” just because I fucking love Pavement so much… I mean this book somehow relates my two favorite things (basketball and Pavement), what is there not to love?

But the point is that this book is worth checking out, should be at all major book sellers, and if you are lucky enough to live in the pacific northwest, NYC, or Chicago, you can even go to a signing, and kick it with Bethlehem Shoals and friends!

On to the games!

Philadelphia – 106 at Toronto – 96

Elton Brand arguably had his best game of the season, and Iggy definitely had his as he not only flirted with a triple double but collected 18 points (on a still stinky FG%... but hey, what can you do?). Sammy was in foul trouble much of the game, eventually fouling out, and this led to increased time for Willie Green (small lineup? None of the Philly’s backup bigs played much) who registered what I will assume is a career high of 9 assists. Jermaine O’Neal, Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani each had nice lines for Toronto, but it looks like everyone else had trouble finding offense while Jose Calderon was in the locker room (he did return, so it was diagnosed as cramps of the hamstring variety, not the menstrual variety Michael Redd has been rumored to be suffering from currently).

Don’t read too much into: Willie Green. Unless you are in a very deep league, it is not worth owning him for his 1 hot game every 20ish days. Even then, the assists tonight were an aberration.

What is the deal with: Thad Young and his TO’s! Seriously, has anyone seen a sixer game this year? All I see on highlights are spot up shots and dunks where he might take one dribble. I just think it is weird that he has 9 more TO’s on the season than Andre Miller.

Indiana – 98 at New Jersey – 87

TJ Ford approached a triple double for the third game in a row (hawt %’s and 3 steals to boot!), Marquis had another solid game, and Jarrett Jack turned in a serviceable line thanks to his 6/7 FT number. Vince Carter and Jarvis Hayes were the only standouts for New Jersey. Yi had plenty of opportunity but shot 4/13 from the field and failed to get to the line in 30 minutes.

New Jersey frontcourt news: Josh Boone was limited to 18 minutes for no apparent reason (other than his sucking, but it’s not like they have better options… or like he hasn’t been going for 30+ multiple times this season). Brooke Lopez received 20 minutes and did nothing with it, and Ryan Anderson returned with a vengeance after a few DNP-CD’s to post a furious 5 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block and 2 TO’s in 12 minutes. Sean Williams and Eduardo Najera leeched some time as well, but taking their cue from the other bigs, did nothing with it.

UPDATE: Boone turned his ankle but returned... this situation just keeps getting uglier...

Pacers Injury update: Rasho returned to action tonight, which would normally make Jeff Foster irrelevant… but with Troy Murphy out again (stomach virus), and Danny Granger missing the game with a quad cramp, Foster started and had a nice line. Given the short term nature of these injuries though, it looks like the short ride on the Jeff Foster train has come to an end, and it is time to move on to Zaza Pachulia or Solomon Jones (adjust to taste ie do you need blocks at the risk of getting nothing, or boards at the risk of getting ugly %’s?)

Lets watch Vince: Devin Harris gets hurt, his rebounds go down and his 3pta’s go up… it’s not a thing, just a curious trend over a sample too small to draw any meaningful conclusions out of.

Atlanta – 102 at Boston – 103

Al Horford had some foul trouble issues, as the Hawks watched Boston live at the line and ride 42 FTA’s to victory. Joe Johnson had a beautiful line if you ignore the FG%, Mike Bibby and Mo Evans were respectable but nothing special, and Marvin Williams continues to can threes at a rate that is as amazing as it is surprising (the 4 tonight give him 8 on the year, 7 more than he had in 80 games last year, and only 17 short of matching the number he hit in the 3 seasons leading into this one). Rondo stuffed 10 assists into an otherwise disgusting line, Paul Pierce killed the scoring cats but did little else, and KG had what is easily his best line of the season (25-12-4-1-2, 1 TO, 10/16FG, 5/5FT, no threes). The Celtics bench didn’t do anything worthy of mention since they barely see the floor in marginally close games (which is beginning to make me question if the C’s actually have a good bench, or if their bench only looks good because they get to play free of care and responsibility since they are usually charged with doing little more than not blowing 20+ point leads against the other team’s bench). Unfortunately, this Herculean smooveless effort will probably result in little more than a condescending Celtic slurping remark by Mike Wilbon tomorrow.

San Antonio – 78 at Milwaukee – 82

The Spurs had this game under control until the fourth quarter. I didn’t watch, so I don’t know how it happened… I DO know that Andrew Bogut SOMEHOW avoided foul trouble for the first time in the past 5 games, and gave a nice return of 10-17-4-3-0. The remaining Bucks did not post useful stats. Even Richard Jefferson’s 19-9 was devalued by stinky %’s. Tim Duncan had a great line if you look past his lack of boards (only 5), Finley put in a strong line off the bench, and Roger Mason struggled with his jumper but still collected 6-5-4 with 2 threes on one TO.

Bucks lineup change: Mbama started for Charlie V. This could have been a match up thing since Timmy is really all the Spurs have right now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it sticks for a few games since Skiles is in love with Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.

Spurs rotation news: George Hill saw shorter minutes than he did last night against New York (down from 30 to 22), and Roger Mason struggled shooting as a starter for the second straight game while Michael Finley was hot off the bench. Nothing to read into, since the Spurs troubles came finishing the game, not starting it… but I would watch for Finley to move into the starting lineup if neither Hill nor Mason distinguishes himself.

Utah – 97 at Washington – 95

AK47 was seen mocking Deron as the game ended, saying something along the lines of “What are you talking about? Why would turnovers be included as part of a 5x5?”, and while that may have cut to the heart of the teams issues, no one on Utah’s side posted a good line outside of Boozer… and even he was not himself against a previously winless Wizards squad. I take that back, CJ Miles finally had a decent line! I don’t think the 16 points will become a regular thing (10 if he’s lucky), but he is a guy to keep in mind a streamer for 3ptm, since his role seems a bit more concrete than Korver’s. Javele McGee put up a double double in 27 minutes off the Washington bench, but was the only guy other than Caron and Antawn to do anything significant.

UPDATE: AK47 injured his right index finger and is currently listed as day to day

*Orlando – 109 at Oklahoma City – 92

I think it was Silvio who mentioned the Magic burning their starters long and running things up on people? They did the same thing tonight, allowing Dwight, Turk and Jameer to play deep into the game. A game in which they led a Durant-less Thunder team 71-42 at the half. Dwight got the first triple double of his career in a truly dominating performance (30-19-3-0-10, 12/21 FG, 6/13 FT, 1 TO), Rashard was relatively invisible all night, Turk had nice FT and assist numbers but a stinky 3/13 from the field put a damper on his line, Jameer scored 17 but did little else, and the bench contributed nothing despite Orlando having a huge lead for most of the game. Jeff Green is really starting to come into his own, knocking down threes and getting to the line (where he also knocks the shots down) at an impressive rate while filling in the other areas of his line… if only he could pick up that FG%!!! Earl Watson had a nice game with 12 points and 8 assists, and Russell Westbrook had a line that was nice but could have been a lot better considering his 3/19 from the field (Dwight is lucky the age of consent in Oklahoma is 16 (and not 20… like it is nowhere?)… because the number he did on Westbrook could easily be misconstrued as nefarious through arbitrary eyes)

*Portland – 104 at Miami – 96

Brandon Roy was cruising along great until he missed a late FT to knock his % under 80, and despite getting tons of Jon Barry lip service LaMarcus Aldridge actually put together a pretty rank line (good volume, gut wrenching %’s). The Vanilla Gorilla put up a good line on short PT (good for Przy = 8+ boards and don’t mess up anywhere else), but the story of this game was Rudy Fernandez who caught fire down the stretch and carried the game home for the Trailblazers. 25 points, beautiful %’s, 2 steals and a block, a few threes… what more could you ask for? Dwyane Wade had a monster game with 36-6-8-2-3, but Haslem was really the only other Heat played to scrap anything decent together.

Things to watch: Mario Chalmers is making it very easy for Chris Quinn to take his minutes. If he doesn’t step up soon I would not be surprised if Quinn takes the starting gig… I mean Chalmers last few games have just been awful.

Injury report: Shawn Marion sat out this game with a groin injury that is reportedly not a big deal. The only people benefiting this seem to be the Heat opponents.

New York – 132 at Memphis – 103

As you should guess from the score, several Knicks players popped off nice lines, most of them on golden %’s as New York shot 59% as a team. Jamal Crawford and Wilson Chandler led the way, with Crawford finally getting a nice assist number (8) and Chandler missing only 1 shot on his way to 27 points. Randolph was nice, and Duhon collected a quiet but very friendly mix of assists, threes and steals. Nate Robinson was a perfect 8/8 off the bench and hit 5 threes on his way to a lovely 21-3-5. Really the only disappointments on this side of the ball were David Lee, who was appropriately quiet in a mere 17 minutes off the bench, and Q-Rich who only took 8 shots in 28 minutes of action. Mayo, Gay and Gasol scored well for Memphis, but no one (including these three) provided anything useful in the non-scoring cats.

LA Lakers – 93 at New Orleans – 86

A late charge by the Hornets makes this one look closer than it was. CP3 put together most of his splendid line in the second half, and seems to be completely immune to the variation in effectiveness of his team mates (just another thing that confirms his position as #1 fantasy beast). D-West was acceptable if you discount TO’s, and Peja struggled with his shot early. The Lakers have surprisingly unappealing stats considering they won the game, Bynum had a nice line highlighted by 4 blocks, Derek Fisher put up 20 points and 4 threes but very little else, while Gasol and Kobe did nice things but definitely had their flaws (FG% for Kobe, overall low production for Pau).

Houston – 94 at Phoenix – 82

I can’t believe I am about to say this… but for the second time this year Shaq had the Suns best line!? Amare struggled from the field and had visit from the TO fairy, Nash is just kind of invisible in the box score, and Barbosa nearly duplicated Kobe’s line… but with fewer FT’s and zero peripherals (which is my way of saying he also shot 5/15 from the field). Ming, Skip and T-Mac all had good lines for the Rockets, Artest was nice outside of his venomous 1/12 from the field, and Aaron Brooks poured in 19 from the bench (25 minutes, 8/13 FG, I think the 13 in 25 is much more impressive than the 19 or the 8 considering all of the scoring talent on this team). The rest of the players involved in this contest were not mentioned for good reason.

FIGHT!!! Alston and Barnes were ejected, but Nash, Shaq and T-Mac also received technicals. What will happen with suspensions? Only that crazy cat Stu Jackson knows! (actually he probably doesn't know, as most of his judgments seem to come directly from his ass)

Sacramento – 103 at LA Clippers – 98

Brad Miller has revived the Kings! Harkening back to the days of yore, Miller put together a ridiculously clean, wet dream of a center line 16-11-8-1-1, 7/10 FG, ½ FT, no TO’s, 1 three. WOW. Beno Udrih topped his last outing by pouring in 30 points on 13/20 from the field along with 5 boards, 7 assists, and only 1 TO! John Salmons struggled from the field, but still managed a nice line, and Jason Thompson not only outplayed Mikki Moore but RECEIVED 10 MORE MINUTES THAN MIKKE MOORE! Spencer Hawes had one of his worse outings, but the 4 blocks alone make him better than the majority of fantasy C’s (and he is still getting solid PT, so there is nothing to worry about). Baron Davis had a rough shooting night, but still put up 12 points and 11 assists. Al Thornton dropped in 20 with 2 threes on a weak FG%, but offset that slightly by adding 3 blocks. Kaman returned to the ways of the terrible, and Camby had a quiet night on the boards… but much like Spencer Hawes, salvaged the day with 4 blocks (which I am sure is exactly what Camby owners want to hear, their second round pick likened to Spencer Hawes). In an update on the activities of the mentally challenged, Mike Dunleavy played Ricky Davis 22 minutes, and Ricky hit a lot of threes. If the Clips bench has been anything this year, it has been inconsistent. Not only in the quality of play, but in the night to night decisions of who is going to play. Don’t read into Ricky popping off.

Game Notes: 11/11

Oh man, today is my favorite day of the season. It comes at a different time each year, but today was the day that Yahoo! updated their player profile pictures!!! My favorite so far is Adam Morrison’s, but I am sure this will change as I stumble upon more gems in the comings weeks.

Denver – 88 at Charlotte – 80

The Nuggets got the win, but their individual stats leave much to be desired. Melo collected 25 points and had a nice FG% (10/19) but very little else worthy of mention, Chauncey was 7/7 from the line with 5 dimes and 2 steals but again… didn’t really fill things out, Nene put up beastly hustle stats (2 steals, 4 blocks, 8 boards) and acceptable %’s but turned it over 4 times, Kleiza played 35 minutes but appeared to do little outside of be in position for rebounds from time to time. JR Smith had another cold night, and Renaldo Balkman collected a nice line before fouling out in 27 minutes of play. J-Rich and Crash both had strong lines for Charlotte, but outside of Morrison’s 16 points off the bench there isn’t much to comment on. Sean May finally returned to action, but was pulled after 2 minutes when Larry Brown was informed that the training staff had forgotten to charge the team’s defibrillator.

Milwaukee – 93 at Cleveland – 99

Charlie V had a decent night ruined by a weak FG%, Richard Jefferson had a nice all around line (can he do this once Redd returns?), Bogut found foul trouble again and Mbama cleaned up reasonably well in his absence all things considered (Villanueva or Luc Richard is playing C for stretches, I know it happened in this game because I watched the box live, I was not being crazy when I suggested Mbama getting a C the other day), Sessions had a down game (for him), and Elson took Gadzuric’s spot in the rotation. LeBron had another big scoring night and is continuing to hit FT’s at a respectable rate (8/10 tonight), Z was business as usual with nice %’s 15-10 and a block, and Varejao had a nice double double +2 blocks off the bench.

Is it just me?: Has Mo Williams disappointed anyone else? I didn’t think he would explode in Cleveland, but I was thinking something like 20-3-3 with 2 3ptm was a possibility. As of now his line is worse than Delonte’s was in the starting PG role last year. Are the Cavs the equivalent of the late 90’s/early 2000’s Dallas Stars? ie they bring in a new high profile scorer (Bret Hull, Bill Guerin, Pierre Turgeon… Larry Hughes, Wally World (stretch, I know), Mo…) every year and watch his numbers crumble in their system?

Utah – 93 at Philadelphia – 80

DERON IS BACK! He started and posted a modest 7-2-9-0-1 with 1 three and 2 TO’s on 1/8 FG and 2/4 FT. This was very good and surprising news considering the reports of his ankle swelling on the flight to the east coast and all of the talk about him sitting out the entire east coast road trip. Carlos Boozer put up a classic Boozer line, but more importantly AK maintained a strong line with Williams back in the starting lineup (Williams even assisted a few of AK’s shots!!! Wouldn’t it be so cool if they were like bff’s OMGOMGOMG!!!). Paul Millsap had a very strong game (3 blocks!) off the bench and Ronnie Brewer matched Iggy stroke for stroke… which was odd because Iggy had a good game. Thad Young had an off night shooting but made up for it by collecting 11 boards 4 assists and a block. Andre Miller had a big scoring night but a small assisting night, and Elton Brand struggled… outside of the 6 blocks he recorded. Philly’s bench didn’t do anything.

Don’t Worry about: Memo. He’s not hurt, simply tending to a family emergency in Turkey. No hints as to when he’ll be back, but if you dig on taking advantage of others misfortune, pick up Paul Millsap! Hopefully whatever god you honor will not see fit to condemn you to an afterlife of going 0-9 every week.

*LA Lakers – 106 at Dallas – 99

The refs let both teams play in this one. Kobe and Dirk each received a couple of touchy calls in their favor early in the third, but for the most part the teams were allowed to bang each other around (in other words, very little in the way of pansy over the back calls etc. were whistled, hence Erick Dampier’s massive line). That being said, Kobe is an amazing player (newsflash), he just sort of floated until early in the fourth when he ripped Dallas for a handful of buckets and ignited a 20-6 run or something. Dallas played well, it is just like they wear themselves out mentally by the end of the game and stop running their offense, and instead give it to Dirk 25 feet from the basket with 5 seconds left on the shot clock… it makes no sense, because they looked great for most of the first half. Kidd had a triple double and showed a scoring touch I hadn’t seen from him in a long time, Jason Terry continued to thrive in his starting role, and Gerald Green put up another nice line (and looked really good in the process, maybe it is because I am seeing him in relation to Antione Wright, but Gerald has an array of tricks he uses around the basket and is just an ultra athletic freak. He’s fun to watch). Jerry Stackhouse had his first good game of the season coming off the Mavs bench. Gasol and Kobe had good but not overwhelming lines, and Ariza was an absolute monster off the bench making the Mavs guards pay several times for lackadaisical cross court passes and other things you are taught to never do on your first day of organized hoops.

Basketball in real life: What is all the fuss about Andrew Bynum? Maybe every time I see him he is having an off night… but his lone talent seems to be that he is really big. The only times he scored were on put backs and extremely generous set ups from Kobe or Pau (ie Kobe/Pau would draw Bynum’s man away from him and toss him the ball so he had no one in the 3 foot space between himself and the basket). Every time he was given the ball in a situation where a post move would be expected he either got into a move and flubbed it up, or finished the move and threw up an AWFUL shot. Is this normal for him? Or does he know how to score on something other than an uncontested dunk?

Atlanta – 113 at Chicago – 108

Al Horford had a HUGE game for the Hawks, and really seems to enjoy rolling as a PF, so much so that I am kind of wondering if Josh Smith will shift to SF and Marvin to the bench once Smoove’s ankle is good. All of the Hawks starters made competent contributions, and the distribution of bench PT seemed more standardized than their last game (Mo – 26, Flip – 22, Law – 8, Jones – 6) with Mo Evans enjoying a hot shooting night. Derrick Rose had a beautiful game of his own, and was joined by Deng and Nocioni… and to a lesser extent Gordon (nice points, but weak %’s, 4ea of assists and rebounds though) and Sefalosha.

Starting lineup news: Chicago started Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas at PF and C. Noah produced modestly in 27 minutes, but Tyrus (21 minutes) spent most of the game watching Andres Nocioni.

New York – 80 at San Antonio – 92

As though it were scripted, Popovich received the only thing that could remedy a TP/Gino-less Spurs team on the very first adventure without the battle tested duo. I speak of a Mike D’Antoni coached team of course! You could say that these two coaches represent a sort of yin and yang, or good and evil basketball methodology… but if you were to do that, you would be forced to add a foot note that explains while ones heart may say that Pop is the bad guy in this metaphor (which is already extended to an absurd degree), it is much more logical for D’Antoni to be the evil doer… and not even a bonafide villain, but like Rocksteady and Bebop in the ninja turtles ie just there to add pizzazz and comic relief, as they never pose any real threat to he who carries the flag of the righteous. This game was actually pretty close until the fourth quarter. Zach Randolph had a decent outing, and Jamal Crawford was on fire (hit 6 threes), but the only other Knick to top 10 points was David Lee who had his best game since going to the bench. Tim Duncan carried the Spurs with a near triple double, but received plenty of help from Roger Mason, George Hill and Fabricio Oberto.

Starting lineup news: San Antonio shook things up quite a bit. They started Mason/Hill/Udoka/Duncan/Oberto, but Udoka only saw 20 minutes as Bowen was on the floor for 28. Finley and Anthony Tolliver each saw 20, Jacque Vaughn 11 and Kurt Thomas 9. George Hill may be worth grabbing, but I wouldn’t expect too much as the Spurs may give their bigs more PT against teams with more traditional lineups.

Detroit – 100 at Sacramento – 92

AI nearly had a triple double, and Tayshaun Prince continued his phenomenal (of late) play (a surprise because I thought he was just doing it for me, as I faced him in two leagues last week!). Rip had a rough night from the field, but still managed 17 points by getting to the line. The Pistons bench saw very little action as all starters other than Amir saw 35+ minutes (with AI topping them out at 46). Brad Miller had a great line… if you discount the 2/16 from the field (he hit a three though!! …It sounds like he has been hanging out with Spencer Hawes too much). John Salmons was very much in the same situation, putting up very nice volume numbers but nasty %’s. Beno Udrih on the other hand, put together a very nice (although not very PG-like) all around line. Spencer Hawes continues to thrill off the bench, putting up 19-6-1-0-1 in 27 minutes.

Injury report: Rodney Stuckey missed the game for Detroit as a result of the dizziness he experienced the other night, but is expected to play in their next game (rotoworld). Kevin Martin was out for the Kings which moved Jason Thompson into the starting lineup (Salmons shifted down to SG). Thompson produced well and avoided fouls tonight, but Martin is only expected to miss a week, so you probably shouldn’t drop anyone too valuable for him.

Minnesota – 110 at Golden State – 113 (OT)

This game almost went to 2OT, but Rashad McCants saved his lone TO for the worst possible time. Andris Biedrins had another monster double double, but continued the ugly FG% and TO’s that have been dragging him down recently. Biedrins fouled out late and passed the baton to Captain Jack and Azubuike, who carried the Warriors the rest of the way, each posting strong lines. Brandan Wright started and improved his points and rebounds over his last couple of games, but failed to record a block in 33 minutes. Anthony Randolph (20 minutes) and Ronny Turiaf (28 minutes) on the other hand, collected a good block numbers and very little in the other cats (ok, Randolph had 8 boards… I still wouldn’t pick him up though, his FG% will not be pretty, much like every other 7 foot dude who has played in the NBA at less than 200 pounds). Minnesota’s bench scored a lot, with Foye, McCants and Gomes each getting 15+. Mike Miller nearly had a triple double (10-8-7, 2 threes, zero TO’s), and Al Jefferson had a strong big man line of 25-12-2-1-4. K-Love started and played 28 minutes, but didn’t do much outside of his 9 boards.

Don’t worry about: Telfair. He didn’t play much because Golden State did not play a PG sized guy for most of the game. And since Telfair is arguably smaller than “PG size”, he became a significant defensive liability. This means Foye won’t be getting 38 minutes again any time soon as long as Telfair is healthy and the wolves are not playing Golden State. Definitely something to keep in mind for future streamers and bench/start decisions though (unless GS gets a nice PG for Al).

Game Notes: 11/10

Portland – 106 at Orlando – 99

Brandon Roy had a big scoring night but was mediocre in the support cats he usually provides, LaMarcus Aldridge posted a simple but perfectly efficient double double, and Travis Outlaw and Rudy Fernandez both provided a spark off the bench that would help almost any fantasy roster. There were a lot of fouls on both sides in this game, and oddly enough Portland’s primary beneficiary of this was Steve Blake who finished the game with 11 FTA’s. Joel Przybilla struggled all night with fouls, and being a much worse player than Dwight Howard. Dwight and Turkoglu carried Orlando in the losing effort, Dwight posting another giant big man line of 29-19-0-1-1, including an extra special 13/20 from the line, and Turk hitting 4 threes on his way to 35-4-3-0-0. Jameer Neslon came through with some behind the scenes support, finishing with 10-6-7 but adding 4 TO’s to the mix as well, and in a rare event Rashard Lewis had more rebounds than points!

Oklahoma City – 99 at Indiana – 107

Kevin Durant had a huge night (37-8-2-0-3, 4 TO’s, 2 Threes, 13/27 FG, 9/9 FT), and even received strong support from several Thunder players (Green, Collison, Joe Smith… even Robert Swift made a decent contribution), but it wasn’t enough to overcome TJ Ford’s monster night and the hot shooting of Indy on the whole. Troy Murphy played short minutes because he left the game in the second quarter with the stomach flu (rotoworld), other than that everyone on the Pacer’s roster played to expectations with the exception of Jeff Foster who exploded for 4 blocks and 15 points.

Things to watch: Jarrett Jack has begun to do things with his ~30mpg off the bench. He won’t be consistent, but if your team could benefit from some additional assists or FT% help, he is worth a look.

Toronto – 87 at Boston – 94

Jermaine O’neal played nearly 40 minutes for some reason (Bargnani foul trouble?)… he turned in a strong line as a result, but I would be surprised if he continues to see this much PT or this many offensive opportunities. O’neal’s feast came at the expense of Chris Bosh who only hoisted 8 field goal attempts. Parker and Calderon each turned in nice, but slightly flawed performances (TO’s for Parker, FG% for Calderon), Jason Kapono turned in a surprisingly well rounded line from the bench, and JaMario Moon picked up the reigns as a competent rebounder for the second straight game. Paul Pierce exploded for Boston, providing in all offensive cats. Ray Allen and KG flanked him with strong contributions of their own as the C’s outscored Toronto 35-22 in the final quarter to snatch victory.

Things to watch: It is frustrating that Bargnani’s pattern seems to be “one game on, one game off”, but I am sure that is merely a coincidence, and that he is merely experiencing an uncharacteristic hot streak to get half of his games under the description of “good”. I fully expect this pattern to break soon enough and Andrea to return to the random player who frustrates everyone.

New Jersey – 94 at Miami – 99

Vince Carter and Keyon Dooling put together strong multi cat (but TO heavy) lines in Devin Harris’s absence, Josh Boone and Bobby Simmons hardly took advantage of their extended minutes, but Yi was the star of the evening on New Jersey’s side; playing 37 minutes and coming away with 24-10-4-0-1 with 5 threes and 2 TO’s on 7/11 FG and 5/6 FT, he had one of the strongest outings of his NBA career. Shawn Marion missed the game with a groin strain (he was a late scratch, he should return soon), and outside of Wade hitting 4 threes (on 7 attempts), there is not a lot of news on the Miami side. Chalmers has now had a few quiet games in a row, but he is still getting the bulk of the PG minutes, and until this changes it will be difficult to make a case against owning him unless performances such as tonight’s become regular enough to outweigh the benefit of his monster games.

Memphis – 102 at Phoenix – 107

Is it possible that OJ Mayo has already settled into the NBA game better than he ever did the college game? Tonight makes it 3 of the past 4 games in which he has scored 30+ and shot over 50% from the field, both very impressive for a rookie (or any player for that matter). Marc Gasol had a quiet but useful line, as did Rudy Gay (who didn’t reek in some category or another for the first time this season), and Darrell Arthur had a very fine outing with 10-7-0-2-2 and no TO’s while hitting 5/10 FG’s. Leandro Barbosa exploded for the Suns scoring 27 points in 22 minutes, Shaq apparently thought he deserved a victory lap after hanging 29 on the Bucks two days ago and promptly fouled out (22 minutes!). The remainder of the Suns ranged from decent (Amare, Barnes) to kind of awful (Nash).

Don’t read too much into: Barbosa’s line. This doesn’t mean he is turning a corner. It simply means that he got hot against a team that isn’t very good on a night when most of his team mates were cold so they gladly deferred to him. Try not to let tonight’s performance affect your opinion of him. He is definitely capable of doing this again, but predicting it is impossible, and waiting for it is foolish.

Game Notes: 11/9

Toronto – 89 at Charlotte – 79

Jose Calderon failed to get a trip to the line, but otherwise had a nice outing, pairing 6/10 FG and three with 7 assists and zero TO’s. Chris Bosh carried the bulk of the scoring responsibility on his way to a nice double double with 30-16, and Andrea Bargnani had a good shooting game and turned in 18 points of his own (and more importantly 3 blocks, Bargnani has been a surprisingly consistent source of blocks early this season). On the Bobcats side… wow, everyone was ugly. DJ Augustin put together a decent line in 25 minutes off the bench, but Sean May must have raided the pre-game buffet, forcing his team mates to play on empty stomachs, as they were out done in nearly every statistical category (but somehow hung tight to the end).

Utah – 99 at New York – 107

Ronnie Brewer had a great line, with 12-4-7-7-0 and two threes, muddied slightly by 4 TO’s, but spectacular none the less. AK and Boozer had strong nights as well, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the suddenly deadly combo of Jamal Crawford and Zach Randolph who both exploded in their own ways (Z-Bo even hit a couple of threes!). Wilson Chandler started for David Lee again, and while neither of them put up particularly breathtaking stats, neither of them were awful. Chris Duhon had one of his up nights (I am still trying to find a pattern to these so I can start using him in roto), Q played a lot but didn’t do much, and Nate Robinson had a quiet night to wrap up his big week.

Dallas – 92 at LA Clippers – 103

Gerald Green put up a double double filling in for injured Josh Howard (wrist), Dirk was great in the scoring cats and mediocre in the others, Jason Terry had his first cold night as a starter (and somehow out rebounded Jason Kidd), and Jason Kidd put up another quiet but spectacular line. Baron Davis turned in a strong performance, and was complemented by the Clips front court who gobbled boards and shot high %’s… except for Al Thornton, who did a Thad Young impersonation (and looks as though he had some foul trouble at some point in the game).

Don’t read too much into: Gerald Green. Josh should be back soon. And by soon I mean one of the next two games. Even if he isn’t 100%, he has a history of playing through injuries and this one does not sound as though it is very severe. Definitely keep an eye on Green’s role once he returns to the bench though. If he gets 25ish mpg he can put up numbers that would be worth owning.

Things to watch: Eric Gordon received significant playing time for the first time tonight and responded by canning 3 threes and grabbing 2 steals. Much like Green, if he becomes a regular rotation player he could offer some numbers that you may be interested in (and by that I mean it is always nice to find SG’s with PG eligibility)

Boston – 88 at Detroit – 76

The Celtics gave their bench a lead and Tony Allen closed the deal. Exploding for 23 points on 11/16 from the field, Allen enjoyed his longest outing of the year and led the C’s in scoring. Ray Allen tarnished a nice line with 3 TO’s, KG collected 12 board but joined Paul Pierce at the bi-monthly International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC) meeting, and honestly… looking at the C’s side of the box score I never would have guessed they won this game. But then you see Detroit’s side! Tayshaun Prince had a nice game, but apparently Rip and Rasheed carry cards for the BAC as well, and AI put up a Rodney Stuckey line, and Rodney Stuckey’s line was even worse than AI’s.

Things to watch: Amir had a nice line tonight (7-5-0-2-3, zero TO’s, 3/7 FG, 1/1 FT) in 22 minutes. Not worth picking up yet, but if he puts a few 2+ block games together, he is definitely a guy to look into. There is a reason everyone got excited when he was named the starter.

Atlanta – 89 at Oklahoma City – 85

Joe Johnson scored 25 points on 25 FGA’s… which should be enough to tell you that he didn’t have a very efficient night (although the 4 steals and 1 block are nice). Marvin Williams had a nice line (his %’s are beginning to stabilize, and he is shooting and making 3’s this year, which is a pleasant surprise) but added 3 TO’s to it *sigh*, and Al Horford put up 12 boards and 5 blocks but only managed 8 points (still a very nice line though). Kevin Durant put up 20 points, but the rest of his line is too ugly to look at, Jeff Green fouled out in 37 minutes and struggled with his shot but forgiving that had a decent line, Russell Westbrook, Joe Smith and Desmond Mason each put up nice numbers coming off the bench, and most important of all… Robert Swift made his season debut!

Lineup shuffle: Due to Josh Smith’s injury, Al Horford shifted down from C to PF, and Zaza Pachulia stepped into the starting lineup. However, Zaza either got into early foul trouble, or was just plain awful (given his history, I would guess some of both), and only managed 9 minutes while back up Solomon Jones enjoyed 22 minutes and contributed a solid 3-10-1-0-2… which isn’t anything spectacular, but enough to leap frog the likes of Jeff Foster on your list of streamer C’s. Flip Murray (and not Mo Evans) was the primary back court back up, logging 27 minutes to Mo’s 17.

Injury Note: Chris Wilcox left the game with a knee injury that is reported as “not serious”. This should give Nick Collison’s value a slight bump. Joe Smith put up a nice line tonight, but I would be surprised if he got to the line 10 times (as he did tonight) in every game for the rest of the month combined.

Memphis – 90 at Denver – 100

OJ Mayo took the best pieces of his games against the Warriors and the Kings and put them together for a beautiful line of 31-8-3-0-0 with 3 TO’s and 4 threes on 11/21 from the field and 5/6 from the line. Marc Gasol was on the floor for 39 minutes but delivered a paltry 6-8-1-1-1, Rudy Gay represented the western division of the BAC and turned it over 6 times but otherwise had a very fine line, and the vaunted Mike Conley was one assists away from a 3x5. Chauncey Billups reclaimed his scoring numbers by shooting 10/11 from the line, Nene had another huge game, and Melo rounded out the Nuggets scoring in a game that saw 61 fouls called and 83 free throws attempted. JR Smith’s production was constricted by his constant foul trouble tonight.

Injury Note: Kenyon Martin missed this game with a wrist injury, and the Birdman left in the third quarter to put more gel in his hair I mean because of a broken rib. This opened a lot of PF playing time. Linas Kleiza got the start and turned in a decent line that would have been a lot better had he shot his regular FT%. Renaldo Balkman filled in as well, collecting 25 minutes off the bench. I’m not sure if this will do anything other than give Kleiza owners (both of us… yes, I still haven’t given up on him) a reason to hold onto him for another game or two, but if you need 3’s from a guy who normally helps your FT%, keep an eye on K-Mart’s status and consider Kleiza if K-Mart ends up missing more time.

Golden State – 98 at Sacramento – 115

The Kings ran away with this one in the third, which means the Warriors current “big 3” (Jackson, Biedrins, Azubuike) all played short minutes. If you don’t mind stinky efficiency though, Biedrins had an awesome double double. Jackson and Azubuike were more efficient in collecting nice short minute lines. Brandan Wright started again and once again collected 3 blocks and not a lot else. The only noteworthy things from the Warriors bench (which aren’t that noteworthy, seeing as this was a blowout) are Anthony Randolph’s 13 minutes, and Ronny Turiaf’s 1 minute. I wouldn’t spend too much time pondering these things, but OMG do I love Anthony Randolph. Kevin Martin put in 27 points and very little else in his 27 minutes, and Brad Miller had a beautiful all around line while Salmons and Udrih made themselves useful on shortened minutes. Spencer Hawes is continuing to kill it from the bench, with his lines that are essentially Bargnani +15 rebounds (yes, I am saying that Andrea is usually good for about -5 rebounds).

Interesting note: The Kings are undefeated since Miller’s return. Now… I know we are talking about games against Memphis, Minnesota and Golden State, but seriously. This team was awful without him. Huge props to Manou (I think it was Manou?) who called this last week when I was whining about Udrih.

Houston – 82 at LA Lakers – 111

This game was closer than the score indicates, and by that I mean the Lakers were only up by 7 going into the fourth (where they proceeded to outscore the Rockets 39-17). Pau Gasol put up a stellar line, Bynum put up a quiet but still very nice line, Kobe had a nice 23-3-3-2-2 which I feel weird calling a disappointment… but for him it kind of is? Farmar, Ariza and Odom all made useful contributions off the bench, and really… the Lakers just toasted the Rockets, shooting 53% as a team and rolling them in the fourth. T-Mac and Yao were outperformed by Scola and Aaron Brooks… and that is really all that needs to be said about the Rockets.