Game Notes: 11/25

Hey guys, I will be out of commission until Saturday due to travel accommodations. If I find a surprise internet connection I may do an abridged version of these notes, but as of now I think it is looking more like I will be without internet until Saturday. Early happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the states (*insert Sean May fat joke*), and early happy November 27th to everyone else (*insert more Sean May fat jokes*).

Golden State – 100 at Washington – 124

Lots of garbage time in this one. Jamal Crawford’s debut was a little less than spectacular, but I am sure he will be fine once he gets full PT. Jackson and Maggette each had nice lines considering their low minutes, Biedrins kind of sucked turning it over 5 times and going 5/9 from the line but still had a night that I would hesitate to coin “awful”, Anthony Morrow started but was yanked very early in the first quarter in favor of Kelenna Azubuike and did not return until the game was well out of hand. Caron and Antawn each saw close to full PT and both performed admirably. JaVale McGee finally got off a little, enjoying a night where he did not have to defend a conventional post player. Much the same can be said for Andray Blatche, who either do to the coaching change or matchups, saw 30 minutes and returned a huge 25-12-5-2-5 with 1 three, on 1 TO, 11/18 FG, and 2/2 FT. If you have a scrub, Blatche is worth a flier. If not I would wait to see if he gets 25+ minutes against a more conventional team.

*Cleveland – 119 at New York – 101

The score makes this game look a lot closer than it was, as the Knicks were down by 31 at the half and did not begin to close that gap until all of the Cavs starters were out in the fourth. Thanks to the blowout, the only thing worthy of note on Cleveland’s side is that LeBron is STILL hitting his FT’s, sitting just under 79% on the season after tonight. Al Harrington and Tim Thomas came off the bench and looked absolutely TERRIBLE while they were on the floor for New York. Unfortunately, the eventual distribution of PT is still impossible to predict as Nate left the game in the second quarter (and did not return) with a strained groin, and Cuttino has yet to suit up. D-Lee and Q were the only guys who put up decent stats for the Knicks. On the nights when this team is off they are almost as unwatchable as the Thunder.

Phoenix – 99 at Oklahoma City – 98

Shaq truly is an innovator. Totally throwing a wrench into the Deron Williams sissy logic behind predicting his own absence in the second night of all back to backs, Shaq took things a step further (for the second time this season) and assumed that were he to play this game he would be too worn down to play tomorrow night… so why not just sit this game out? If only he would extrapolate this logic and talk himself into retirement… Anyway, a Shaq-less Phoenix squad started Robin Lopez and struggled to put down the worst team in the league. Nash had one of his better lines of the season if you look past the 7 TO’s, Amare had nice numbers but for some reason was unable to get off the chain for any more than 13 FGA’s, Matt Barnes put up 16 points but outside of 3ptm did not contribute anywhere else. Earl Watson and Kevin Durant led the way for OKC, with Watson getting all of the boards and dimes, and Durant getting all of the points (on healthy %’s). Jeff Green had one of his weak FG%/TO nights, but was otherwise competent, while Russell Westbrook and Chris Wilcox both made strong contributions from the bench.

Things to watch: Damien Wilkins started and got decent PT again, tonight returning decent steal and 3ptm numbers. As long as OKC keeps a short bench he should have ownable value in deep leagues.

Indiana – 106 at Dallas – 109

Marquis put up a double double against the team that notoriously traded him for Austin Croshere as punishment for Avery Johnson not liking him what seems like eons ago. TJ Ford was solid but quiet, Rasho continued his crazy assist trend, Danny Granger was decent but weighed down by a low FG%, while Troy Murphy personified this game as his own “#8 Notre Dame @ #6 Texas” (a game that would eventually see Texas guard AJ Abrams hoist an incomprehensible 17 three point attempts) and performed justly posting a line of 21-14-2-1-0 with 3 threes, on 2 TO’s, 8/16 FG, and 2/2 FT. The Mavs trailed for most of this game, but a late surge sparked by Jasons Kidd and Terry allowed them to edge out the Pacers at the end. Kidd finally got his turnovers under control and had a nice night. Dirk had a poor FG%, but was good to great everywhere else. Jason Terry surrounded 29 points with 4 boards and 5 assists to finish with a strong overall line, and in Josh Howard’s absence James Singleton made the strongest run at Jarron Collins season high “Collins Line” of 11 minutes, with 9 minutes and 38 seconds of producing absolutely nothing.

I would not advise picking up: Antione Wright. He is terrible. I wish I had seen the game tonight because I honestly cannot figure out how he scored 24. He is the kind of guy who looks like he should be making all kinds of athletic plays and slashing to the basket, but he actually has a game more like a slower, dumber Wally Szczerbiak… who is terrible at shooting and averse to contact. Even if you have “good feelings” about Antione, once Gerald Green and Josh Howard are healthy (should be soon?) all of his minutes will go away.

New Jersey – 93 at LA Lakers – 120

Devin Harris had a bit of an off night, only shooting 5/16 from the field. Vince Carter was decent but only played 32 minutes so his volume is understandably low. Brook Lopez also had a rough shooting night, but in 38 minutes was able to pile up a nice 17-10-2-1-3, and for lack of a better term, Yi and Bobby Simmons were decent in short minutes as well. All the Laker starters saw short minutes. Kobe struggled from the field (5/17) but had healthy rebound and assist contributions. Pau had an impressive line outside of 4 TO’s. Farmar and Ariza made the best contributions among the Laker bench players.

Moving up in the world: I didn’t watch this game, but the box score makes it look like things didn’t get REALLY ugly until the fourth (18 point lead grew to 27 point lead). Still, a decent amount of garbage time was available… and Trevor Ariza only played 20 minutes! Maybe other forces were at work, but it reads to me as Ariza being too important to burn in garbage time (I knew there was a reason they gave Luke Walton a contract extension).

Game Notes: 11/24

Milwaukee – 101 at Orlando – 108

Andrew Bogut did little outside of scoring before he went to the locker room in the third quarter with what has since been diagnosed as a “knee bruise”. Richard Jefferson scored 25 on a nice FG% but didn’t really contribute anywhere else, Mbama continued his steady play, and Charlie V once again came off the bench to make a significant contribution. Luke Ridnour didn’t play, and Sessions had a nice collection of boards and assists but struggled shooting (3/14). Dwight, Rashard, and Turk all enjoyed big nights (Dwight’s was nasty, with 6 TO’s and 10/20 from the line, but the other two were relatively clean) as the remainder of the Magic contributed little of consequence.

Things to watch: Keith Bogans is set to miss 3-6 weeks with a thumb injury… and despite what I said in regard to JJ Reddick the other day, this could make him fantasy worthy. Bogans usefulness never extended beyond that of a one night guy because of his inconsistency. However, Reddick is a much better shooter than Bogans… so if he can knock down a few threes on minimal attempts without messing up anywhere else too severely, he could be a guy to own.

Philadelphia – 84 at Charlotte – 93

Iggy had a strong game, highlighted by 5 steals and zero turnovers. Andre Miller, Thad and Sammy were each kind of quiet and bad (although Thad had 3 steals, and Sammy had 3 blocks… I am just annoyed over Sammy’s FG% never being over 50). Elton Brand reverted to Clipper form by putting up nice numbers in a losing effort. DJ Augustine and Raymond Felton mirrored eachother again… only this time they were both pretty good. Gerald Wallace only had 6 shot attempts in 40 minutes and was similarly quiet in the other stats he is usually strong in. Okafor nearly turned it over as many times (6) as he shot it (8), and Sean May announced before the game that he would be sitting out tonight because he was joining Deron Williams on “the Matt Harpring recovery plan”.

Houston – 107 at Miami – 98

Yao had a big night, putting up solid numbers in all of his cats other than blocks. Artest and Scola joined him, as Ronnie had his usual mix of steals and scoring cats, and Scola had a double double on an ugly FG%. T-Mac had a line that is most easily likened to “gimpy Jason Kidd” in 30 minutes. Mario Chalmers had his first big night in awhile, finishing with 23-4-6-4-0 with 5 threes, on zero TO’s, 7/13 FG and 4/7 FT. Dwyane Wade had possibly his worst game of the season. Haslem lost minutes perhaps due to fouls? Perhaps due to Joel Anthony giving them more size to put on Yao? Whatever the case, outside of scoring Anthony had a nice line that he probably won’t repeat any time soon as he rarely gets 27 minutes. Marion and Beasley were both decent but nothing special.

Things to watch: In a hilarious note, rotoworld mentioned the return of Jamaal Magloire possibly having a significant effect on Haslem’s PT. I know Magloire is a former all-star… but really guys? Things like this are what make me wonder if certain fantasy sources EVER watch games live, instead of in boxes. What I am trying to say is that if Magloire gets more than 5 minutes a game with any regularity Miami’s coach should be fired.

San Antonio – 94 at Memphis – 81

Roger Mason lit things up from the field, but once again had a mess of TO’s. The only other Spur starter to make an impact was Duncan, who double doubled with four blocks, but was only 6/18 from the field. George Hill had a strong performance in 29 minutes off the bench, but more important than that is that MANU RETURNED. 11 minutes, 12 points, no big deal. OJ Mayo had a strong shooting night, Marc Gasol was decent, and Rudy Gay shot 6/19 from the field… but these things are expected. In a surprise move, Darko started and played 30 minutes, posting 11-11-1-2-2 in the process. Making this move more surprising is how well Darrell Arthur played in the team’s last outing, and for that reason I would show restraint when considering a move for Darko.

Gino: I am curious to see how this turns out, if his return means more PT for the more “defense” minded of the Spurs, Bowen/Udoka/Vaughn/Thomas/etc. and less for the offensive ones, Hill/Bonner/Finley. As well as George Hill has played (I have not seen him, so I speak strictly from stats) I would guess that Mason/Gino/Finley/Hill would sort of gel until the minutes are something like 32/28/20/16 until TP gets back?

Chicago – 101 at Utah – 100

Derrick Rose abused Utah for 25 points and 9 assists. Gordon, Hughes, and Gooden all enjoyed decent scoring nights, but none of them surrounded the point with anything worthy of mention. Noah started again, but only received 16 minutes (in which he collected 7 boards, 6 points, and 2 turnovers). All of the Jazz starters scored in double figures, led by Memo with 26. Millsap had a strong double double going in Boozer’s absence until he fouled out. Ronnie’s Price and Brewer each had 3 steals, and AK had a bit of a disappointing night posting a meager 4-6-8-1-1.

Sacramento – 90 at Portland – 91

The Kings roster is filled with lines that are very strong in one area and very poor in others. Udrih had 17 points on 8/12 from the field coupled with 8 assists, but also had 6 TO’s. Salmons was similarly plagued by TO’s but had an otherwise strong performance. I really wish I could have seen Brad Miller and Spencer Hawes play this game because their stats indicate they collaborated on some sort really lame comic featuring the NBA’s only 7 foot, 260 pound SG and his young apprentice (I need to find the back issue where Miller had cornrows, as I cannot imagine Spencer “I voted for John McCain” Hawes being a fan of that). Brandon Roy was cruising along without much fanfare until the fourth quarter when he absolutely exploded, but even then… outside of the scoring cats his line is pretty tame. LaMarcus Aldridge did the bare minimum to get a double double and had an atrocious FG%, Steve Blake salvaged his line with 4 steals, and Joel Przybilla managed 10-12-1-2-2 off the bench (on only 1 missed shot… which was a three… I guess he was auditioning for some sort of comic relief role in the Miller/Hawes project of giant white dudes who are ashamed of their size?)

Things to watch: Greg Oden started but only played 20 minutes. The Vanilla Gorilla played 28, including those during the Trailblazers 4^th quarter comeback. For now this move appears to be little more than a formality.

Things to watch2: Bobby Jackson had heavy minutes off the bench again (this time at the expense of Jason Thompson), and for now should be on your radar as a potential streamer for threes and assists, especially when the Kings play small and/or fast teams.

New Orleans – 99 at LA Clippers – 87

CP3 had another triple double, David West had one of those nights where he pretends he is an SF, Peja was quiet shooting the ball but out rebounded Tyson Chandler, and James Posey had a silent but deadly 8-9 with 2 threes off the bench. Baron Davis did what is becoming his usual LAC thing, 19 points, 8 assists, and a terrible FG%. Chris Kaman had a quiet night but came up with 3 blocks to make things ok. Marcus Camby had 11 rebounds and 2 blocks but didn’t really contribute anywhere else, and Al Thornton shot a Rudy Gay-like 5/18 from the field on his way to an underwhelming line.

Things to watch: Eric Gordon started tonight (in place of Ricky Davis) and exploded for 25-1-3-4-1 with 4 threes, on 2 TO’s, 9/18 FG, and ¾ FT. Like all rookies he will be inconsistent, but it is nice to see what he is capable of. Once Z-Bo is on board they need to have a tandem nick name (such as the WWE) that makes light of their similarly shaped heads and bodies.

Roster notes: Z-Bo didn’t join the clips tonight because the Knicks have concerns over the health of Cuttino Mobley’s heart.

Game Notes: 11/23

Hey guys, just a heads up, but I don’t know what my internet access will be like Wednesday night through Friday night. I have to go to this family reunion thing that is being held in middle of nowhere Missouri instead of Dallas or Houston where most of the family resides.

Boston – 118 at Toronto – 103

Ray Allen and KG both had nice lines that would have been better had the game been close. Paul Pierce had foul issues, while Tony Allen picked up the slack from the bench. Rondo had a decent, but not overly impressive line considering the 3 TO’s. JON started for Toronto, but only played 14 minutes of ineffective ball before falling awkwardly and aggravating the injury. Both Kris Humphries and JaMario Moon saw slight increases in PT as a result and each produced decent numbers all things considered, but Humphries was the choice down the stretch for Sam Mitchell. Bargnani struggled from the field but made up for that at the line where he was 6/6, Chris Bosh did well in the scoring cats but contributed little else, and Calderon joined Bargnani having his own difficult FG night but still managing a decent line.

Golden State – 81 at Philadelphia – 89

Kelenna Azubuike returned to lead the Warriors in scoring and record a steal, a block, and two threes. Maggette and Morrow both struggled to get things going and received short minutes, in part because GS ran big lineups for stretches to match Philly’s size. Stephen Jackson had a rough night shooting, but eased things with 7 boards, 7 assists, 3 steals and a block. Biedrins had his worst game in recent memory but was still pretty good, and CJ Watson had a nice line off the bench highlighted by 3 steals. All of the stats on Philly’s side are pretty ugly, and I am really kind of starting to hate this team as a whole. Brand had a double double on a weak FG%, Sammy had 16 boards but at least half of them were off his own misses, Iggy and Thad were just very mediocre, and Andre Miller had a poor scoring night (which is weird for him, seeing has he is his favorite option in Philly) but ruined 8 assists by matching them with 6 TO’s.

Things to watch: If you are into predicting Nellie… Anthony Randolph has received strong minutes recently and even when he only gets 10-15 manages to get a collection of boards and blocks. If these are your cats, and you have a strong base (or are ditching) FG% he may be worth a look.

Update: Jamal Crawford will make his debut in the next Warrior game (Tuesday). I am guessing you know this already, but in case you had a master plan to conquer your league that involved picking up CJ Watson... you may want to re-think things.

Minnesota – 106 at Detroit – 80

I don’t know what got into Randy Foye, but he recorded a lifetime high 14 assists on way to a lovely well rounded line. Mike Miller did the thing where he tries to back into a Jason Kidd triple double, with 9-8-7. Al Jefferson was decent, but nothing special as he failed to hit his averages by a small margin. Ryan Gomes on the other hand had a stellar and efficient night, and Craig Smith did well in the big cats in 26 minutes off the bench. Pretty much all of Detroit’s players struggled. Prince had a nice game providing a little in all cats and 20 points on nice %’s. Sheed didn’t score much but had 10 boards, 2 blocks and a three, and Jason Maxiell contributed a solid 12-8 in 22 minutes off the bench. Rodney Stuckey once again failed to do anything that should make even a marginally competent FBB GM want to own him.

Chicago – 101 at Denver – 114

I was thinking about just ignoring this summary and ranting about how Kenyon Martin’s absurd 10/10 FG number caused me to lose my A-League match up… but after he hit that three in the final minute of the game I decided that it wasn’t personal (as Vince Carter’s lines when playing against me so often seem to be), and he was just on another planet tonight. Chauncey, Nene and Melo surrounded him with strong, well rounded lines of their own though, while Anthony Carter made a strong contribution off the bench. Kleiza and JR Smith each saw 20 minutes, and while neither was particularly productive… at least they both got shots? Ben Gordon led the way for the Bulls with a strong overall performance, while Drew Gooden and Derrick Rose made competent contributions as well. Larry Hughes turned in a typical line from his time in Cleveland, and Joakim Noah started at C and collected 9 boards in 20 minutes while doing little else.

Sacramento – 108 at LA Lakers – 118

According to Rotoworld, Udrih struggled and lost minutes to Bobby Brown… but watching the box score live it seemed more like Udrih played well, then Brown entered in the third quarter and was playing out of his mind awesome. I wouldn’t worry if you are an Udrih owner, and I wouldn’t pick up Brown if you are anyone who plays fantasy basketball. John Salmons recovered from his outing last night to resume posting ridiculous FG%’s for an SG, Jason Thompson had an impressive 15-7-2-3-2 on 7/10 from the field, and Spencer Hawes started at PF to turn in a line almost identical to those he had been hoisting from the bench recently (ie not bad, but not impressive). Brad Miller joined Mike Miller in Jason Kidd appreciation night (is it a white thing? A Miller thing?) and put up 6-6-6 (EEK… double EEK considering the source). Bobby Jackson channeled his powers from back in the Peja/Webber/Vlade Sacto days, and burnt the Lakers for 15-4-3 on 7/13 from the field and zero TO’s in 27 minutes off the bench. Kobe had a solid overall line while the rest of the Lakers were kind of lame… save Trevor Ariza who blew the roof off the place with 11-11-5-3-0. Odom managed a respectable line (in the context of his recent performances) thanks in large part to shooting 7/9 from the field.

Real Life Side-Note: Why are people talking about Reggie Theus’ job being on the line? Are NBA writers THAT desperate for stories? This team is very young, has no depth, started the season with one key offensive piece missing (Brad Miller) and since Miller’s return, has played without another key piece (Kevin Martin), and Francisco Garica apparently has the same doctor as Mike Dunleavy Jr. as neither of them seem to be on any sort of time table. They over-achieved last year under Theus, considering all of the turmoil with Artest etc., and the whole “all of our decent-good players play the same position” thing, and appear to be doing the same this year. They should be happy to have 5 wins all things considered. And even when they lose… it’s not like OKC who is down by 20 at half time every night, the majority of Sacto’s games have been close. Give Theus a chance.

Game Notes: 11/22

Milwaukee – 79 at Charlotte – 74

Ignoring the fact that they won, this was an ugly game for the Bucks. Andrew Bogut seems to finally be rounding into shape, posting his 5^th 15+ rebound game in his last 7 outings. Richard Jefferson had an unspectacular 15-7, Ramon Sessions rescued an otherwise dull line with 10/10 from the line, and Charlie V did much the same with 8/8 from the line and 4 blocks in 27 minutes off the bench. I would hesitate to say that the “tables turned” on the Augustin/Felton back court battle, because if you ignore Felton’s 7 steals and gross rebounding advantage they were hardly differentiable. Okafor had his first big game in over 2 weeks with 16 points and 18 rebounds. Gerald Wallace was unspectacular but not necessarily bad. Distraught over news of the “Return of the King snack attack” incident, Sean May spent the day at home sobbing while installing World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, and preparing his body for Thanksgiving by having a full Thanksgiving meal 5 days early. The result of all that was a DNP-CD.

Injury update: Luke Ridnour left the game with an injured knee. The extent of the injury is unknown, but if Sessions is still available in your league for whatever reason, you should pick him up. This may give Charlie Bell a little more PT as well, but he hasn’t been very useful this year, even in extended minutes.

Houston – 100 at Orlando – 95

T-Mac and Yao each played 30 minutes. T-Mac did little outside of score, and Yao had one of his nicer lines of the season with 22-13-2-2-1. Landry was the weapon of choice at PF tonight and turned in a quiet but effective line in large part thanks to 2 blocks. Perhaps more significant bench news than that is that Aaron Brooks only played 17 minutes (most likely due to Orlando’s big guards, and Rafer Alston posting a beautiful line of his own). Dwight Howard was in foul trouble pretty much the entirety of the first 3 quarters. Rashard had a great line if you ignore his FG%. Jameer was solid, but unspectacular. Pietrus was AWFUL (and could someone who watches Magic games please explain his TO’s to me?). Turkeyleg missed the game with the flu, which unfortunately is not an ailment that can be linked to his awful play through the first eighth of the season, but did allow Keith Bogans to start and do very little in 36 minutes, and somehow afforded a legitimate playing opportunity to JJ Reddick who (making this situation even weirder) somehow managed to earn 10 FT attempts. I would not pick up Reddick though, in part because Turkey glue will be back soon, and in part because I have trouble seeing every NBA player not secretly wanting to beat the shit out of him. He just looks like that kind of guy.

LA Clippers – 95 at New Jersey – 112

Baron had a big game with 30 points and 10 assists, but didn’t really contribute anywhere else (outside of the cats linked to those, 12/24 FG, 4 threes, 1 TO). Kaman played a ton, but was oddly unproductive. Thornton lived at the line to finish with a nice 20-7-3, and Marcus Camby continued his recent scoring surge to post 18-13-3-1-3. Vince and Devin Harris had big games again, but were both total bollox from the line. Yi and Brook Lopez each received heavy minutes and produced accordingly. Lopez with a double double, and Yi with 27 points on nice %’s. Bobby Simmons had his second decent game in a row, this time augmenting his line with 3 threes, and if he keeps getting ~30 minutes a night will be a guy to own.

Atlanta – 96 at Cleveland – 110

This one got out of hand early, but for some reason the Cavs left their starters in for the bulk of the fourth quarter while the Hawks didn’t play Marvin, Bibby, or JJ in the fourth at all. Nice. LeBron had a pretty lame line going until he feasted on Hawk scrubs in the fourth, and finished with a well rounded 24-7-8 while hitting all 7 of his FT’s. Delonte and Mo Williams were near clones of eachother, both shooting well and collecting assists, and Z had what is becoming the standard line for him of 17-7-0-0-1 on nice %’s and no TO’s. Horford and Marvin were the only Hawk starters to post competent lines, while Mo Evans and Acie Law turned in great lines off the bench that will probably not be replicated again this season barring several major injuries to starters.

Indiana – 100 at Miami – 109

Marquis scored 25 on a nice FG% but didn’t do much to fill out his line. Granger scored 23 with 4 threes and 6 assists, but also turned it over 6 times. Troy Murphy had a very odd line with 6-11-6, but good for him, while Rasho and Ford were solid but nothing to write home about. Dwyane Wade had a semi-monster line, but flung poo all over it with 5 TO’s and a 6/11 from the line. Still though, 2 blocks and 15/24 shooting from a guard is nothing to scoff at… unless the rest of his line also reflects the line of a center. Haslem continued his quiet and solid production. Beasley had nice scoring cats but little else, and Shawn Marion has finally had back to back strong games in Miami. I don’t know if this means anything… but YAY!

Chalmers/Quinn: These guys split time almost exactly tonight and they both sucked, although with 38 points, 5 TO’s and 8 assists it is pretty clear who had the ball in his hands pretty much the entire game.

Washington – 117 at New York – 122

Mike D’Antoni should have his own TV network just to guarantee that his teams will always have a national broadcast. I swear, any time his teams play athletic teams who are otherwise awful and non-competitive I want to watch because dudes just pop OFF. Antawn had 29-13 on hot shooting, Deshaun Stevenson nearly replicated his line from last night, and Caron had crazy production in a few short bursts after missing a lot of time in the first half for some unknown reason. All of the Knicks starters crushed in one way or another (due in large part to their playing 90% of the minutes). Q had 34-12-2-0-0 with 7 threes on 1 TO, 11/20 FG and 5/6 FT. Duhon had a pair of threes to go with 10 points and 11 assists. Nate posted a slick 27-6-6-1-0 tarnished only by 4 TO’s as his %’s were nearly flawless. D-Lee did what many of us set over-ambitious dreams on before the season, with 22-12-2 on great %’s, and finally, Wilson Chandler was the least spectacular of the bunch with a meager 23-6-2-1-1 and 1 three.

Knicks future: I had every intention of dropping Q until tonight. It is probably stupid to hold him because he *somehow* managed a decent line playing 44 minutes against a team that is more than willing to run with the Knicks, but still… depending largely on what sort of role Jared Jeffries has on the team, I think that all the Knicks who had value before the trades will hold their value. Mobley should start at SG, but I would be surprised if he played more than 25-30 minutes, while Q and Nate will back up there. Chandler, Q and Al should all spend time at the 3, while Chandler and Al will also get minutes at the 4, and Al at the 5. D’Antoni has always liked short (7-8) man rotations, and in Phoenix all 7-8 of those guys would be ownable. While New York’s talent is nowhere near the talent on the Suns roster at any point while D’Antoni was their head man, I think that if the rotation stays high and tight the same could be true here, simply because this system makes numbers happen.

Utah – 103 at Memphis – 94

OJ Mayo struggled from the field but saved his line with 10/10 from the line. Marc Gasol had another quiet but decent game. Darrell Arthur had his first big night in awhile with 16-9-0-1-1. Mike Conley had a strong night to tag onto a string of what has been a roller coaster week for his stats. The Memphis bench didn’t do anything, and Rudy Gay finally had a decent FG% but was pretty bad everywhere else. It is funny that he was traded for Shane Battier, because outside of the scoring his line is identical to Battier’s... only with way worse %’s. On the Jazz side, Ronnie Brewer had 21 points on a hot FG%, but his most notable stat is the 4 steals. CJ Miles was solid while AK47 ran the show and put up an outstanding 9-6-10-4-1, and Memo announced his mental return to the game with his first big scoring game of the season dropping 23 points and 4 threes on 9/15 from the field. The longer this team plays without Deron Williams, the more I secretly hope he never comes back… and I own him in 2 leagues!!! Just his attitude with AK, and these ridiculous quotes he keeps giving about when he will finally grace us with his return. The most recent of which is perhaps the most infuriating, announcing that he will be “on the Matt Harpring schedule” once he returns… Really man? You have had over a month, and were feeling good enough to give it a go last week. If you are hurt you are hurt, but you are starting to sound like a more facetious Michael Redd ie a douchebag that no one wants to own.

*Oklahoma City – 97 at New Orleans – 109

The audio of this game made it sound like it was a lot closer than the matchup of these two teams last night, but I couldn’t tell you what it looked like. While I did have this game on my television for stretches (flipping between this and OU/Tech), I was rendered temporarily blind… for I had the misfortune of seeing the Thunder’s “pre-game insider” which for this game was a behind the scene look at the making of the Thunder Girl calendar. While I usually don’t seek out things like this, I don’t mind when I stumble upon them, unless all of the girls have super craggy faces, bleached hair, and look like they have a history of methamphetamine use. This HAS to be the UGLIEST NBA dance team ever assembled. Maybe I was just spoiled by years of watching the Mavs dance team, which features a number of SMU students who manage to somehow present bikini tops in January with some margin of dignity (or really… they just don’t look like they grew up in a trailer park where domestic violence is just a thing people do, instead of a misdemeanor). But really… The Rockets dancers look super trashy, but at least they do the “fun weekend” trashy, and not the “hit with a stick” trashy. But I digress… this shouldn’t have been a surprise as I have sampled the talent pool in Oklahoma City on a couple of occasions and… wow. Why don’t they just have extra mascots or something? Kevin Durant had spectacular scoring cats, but nothing else (almost literally), Jeff Green as usual provided the yin to Durant’s yang and surrounded his 17 points with 5 boards, 4 assists and a steal (nice %’s too, which is nice to see). Russell Westbrook came off the bench for 30 minutes and set his season high in assists with 11, and Chris Wilcox (also off the bench for 30 minutes) added a double double. CP3 had his first triple double of the season, and not being satisfied with that, was spectacular in all other cats as well. David West had nice %’s and 33 points, but outside of the 8 boards didn’t manage much else. Peja and Tyson must have hooked up with the Thunder girls last night, because they were both terrible. Hopefully don’t see the first “DNP-Gonorrhea” sometime next week.

Portland – 92 at Phoenix – 102

Steve Blake had another hot shooting night, Brandon Roy scored well but did not excel in assists to the degree that the author of this piece would have appreciated, Aldridge had a mini D-West game (LOLZ because he is bigger than West IRL OMG!!!), Rudy had a rough shooting night, Oden had a rough foul trouble night, and Przybilla happily entered the “weirdest line of the night” contest with his 0-8-1-3-5 noted for its weirdness because of A) the 3 steals B) the zero shots on 6 offensive boards. Steve Nash has a great line until you notice that he had 8 TO’s (!!!), Amare had a quiet but decent night as Shaq ate all of his offense, Barnes and Bell each had nice performances in their own ways; Bell if you like 3ptm and terrible FG%, Barnes if you like 3ptm and a mix of peripherals. Hill and Diaw both made strong contributions off the bench.