Last Night...

Unfortunately now that I'm back on campus, many of my updates may not be until the next morning. Please bear with me, but I am now back in the Midwest central time zone (Wisconsin), whereas I was in the Pacific (California) when I began these daily entries on Winter recess. This has only been my second one, but I am just putting this out there for those of you check at the late stages of the night. Without further ado, here are last night's news and notes:

- The night's games began on ESPN between the Magic and the Pistons in Auburn Hills, MI, where DET won 101-93. Carlos Arroyo got the start with Jameer Nelson out of this game. He was solid (16pts, 6assts), but that's expected out of Carlos. Earlier this season, he was a very solid option given the starts and minutes while Nelson was out as well. Keep an eye on Nelson's status as Arroyo makes a fine short term pickup if Nelson is due out for an extended period. Also on the Magic side would be my eye on the Evans/Bogans PT situation, Bogans got the better end in this one off the bench with 10pts in 24mins to Evans' 2pts in 20mins. Detroit won this game in Detroit style, getting help from a lot of sources with Rip having the big game at 32pts, 8rebs, 8assts on 14-22 shooting in a great performance.

- Memphis visited the Wizards in D.C., where Washington continued to show they are a very good team even without Gilbert Arenas, who, many of you have probably heard, may be returning post-ASB (All-Star Break). Gasol was missing in this Memphis loss. He had been doing much better in the rebounding and blocks departments before this injury (double figure rebounding in 6 of the last 7 games and averaging 1.8bpg in the last 10). Gasol may be back for their next game, but I would put it as doubtful more than questionable for the injury he has (sore back). Kyle Lowry had a rare good game in this one (13pts, 10assts), but he's not getting any sort of consistent PT with Conley getting all the opportunities and starts.

- Phoenix visited Lebron and the Cavs in a great 110-108 win for the Suns. Ira Newble got the start in place of Sasha Pavlovic on the Cavs' side, while Daniel Gibson continues to come off the bench. I suppose Mike Brown believes Gibson is best served on that team as an instant offense option off the bench, like a Ginobili, Barbosa or Ben Gordon. Anyways, Pavlovic is due out for a while, but I wouldn't advise picking up Newble. He's gonna get the starts, but as seen probably not the minutes and even if he did get the extended PT, he's one of those guys who won't help you in the fantasy fields.

- In the biggest blowout of the night, Toronto demolished the Bucks 106-75 in Canada. On the Bucks side, no one played over 30 minutes and no one was effective in their PT either. With the Raptors, they are beginning to shine more and more like the surprise team everyone saw last season led by Chris Bosh, who had 32pts in this one. Bargnani has now put up double figures scoring in his last couple of games (16.5ppg) after not scoring 10+ in the previous 8. Also, I'm convinced that in the guard-thin East, Jose Calderon should be an All-Star. He's been nothing short of spectacular with his starts in the absence of TJ Ford. Sam Mitchell has already hinted that once TJ returns, which he will, Calderon will remain the starter, which is deserved. Calderon is one of the best PURE PG's in the NBA, which is a dying breed. He doesn't score like Chris Paul because his team doesn't need him too (and it's difficult putting anyone in the same breath as Chris Paul right now), but he's arguably the most efficient guard in the league. He's got a 5.37 Asst:TO ratio (8.6apg, 1.6tpg), which is completely ridiculous, shoots 51% from the field, 43% from three and 92% from the line. Simply put, the guy just doesn't make mistakes. He also leads the Raps in steals, albeit at only 1.1spg. He had 11pts, 12assts and 2stls in this contest, which doesn't astound anyone, but it just shows how consistent a player he is as well.

- Boston got another tough game last night, as they seem to get every night now. This time it was against the streaking Minnesota Timberwolves, who own 2 straight for the 1st time this season before this contest. The final score was 87-86, as the C's won on Kendrick Perkins' tip in down the stretch. I believe the Wolves may have something figured out. They've got a decent nucleus of young talent and when Foye gets back into the rotation, I'm not sure if Telfair at PG is the position he will take over in the starting lineup. Telfair is actually playing pretty decently, putting in about 10ppg and 6apg night in and night out. He led the Wolves in scoring in this one with 18 and dished out 6. Minny led for most of the game, but couldn't close out the Wolves, which they will learn in time. Boston got another great game out of KP, who had 21pts including the gamewinner. He's been a decent source for defensive cats (Rebounding and Blocks) this season and if he puts in a few more good scoring outputs, he's a good option for spot starts in your leagues. There's no reason to expect consistency out of the young fella though.

- New York and Philadelphia, two great basketball cities and two horrid NBA franchises. These two clashed in MSG last night, with the Knicks coming out on top. I don't have much to say about this game except that the final score was 89-81. Isiah Thomas does seem to be finding some sort of balance between his bench and starters though. David Lee and Nate Robinson had 14pts and 13pts in 26mins and 27mins, respectively. New York was playing Philly, however, who needless to say have their own issues.

- LAC@NO, this was just a bad game. Chris Paul got wherever he wanted, dishing out 14 assists in this one, although only shooting 3-12 for 8pts. Peja had a big scoring output with 26pts, including 6-9 from three. The bench was great again for NO, who got 14 out of Pargo and 12 from Rasual Butler (4-5 from three), who might have found himself back into the rotation after this one.

- Kobe had 40pts, 10rebs in Dallas last night and the Lakers shot 56% from the field in this one, but the Mavs weren't going to lose this game. Dirk and Josh Howard both had 26pts/10rebs nights. The game was a good one, but the refereeing was questionable with the two teams combining for 76 FTs attempted (Kobe was 17-21 and Dirk/Josh combined for 18-21). Farmar had a big game off the bench for the Lakers with 18pts and he's been good recently scoring in double figures 6 out of his last 7 games. He's a valid pickup in deep leagues and an trustworthy option for spot starts.

- Charlotte beat the Bulls at the UC in dowtown Chicago on the back of Emeka Okafor (21pts, 16rebs, 4blks). For Chicago, they got the services of Chris Duhon back, who wasn't much of a fantasy factor before, but with the emergence of Thabo Sefolosha (13pts, 10rebs last night), he might have lost his spot in the rotation, playing only 12mins in his return. Andres Nocioni played well again with 25pts and while Ben Gordon and Luol Deng are out, he is probably the best option fantasy-wise on this Bulls team.

- In Utah, there was a shootout between two of the badder defensive teams, but better offensive teams. The score was 127-113, Utah, and there was no shortage of production. The main guys were all there. Kevin Martin led the way for the Kings with 32pts, 7rebs. Utah had a great nights from Boozer (33pts, 10rebs), AK-47 (25pts, 6rebs, 6assts, 4blks) and Deron Williams (16pts, 14assts). Something to note on the Kings' side was the start of John Salmons at forward in place of Mikki Moore. This should give the Kings more offensive firepower, although they already have a ton. It's hard to say how Salmons will fare with Bibby, Artest, Martin and sometimes even Brad Miller as the options ahead of him, but it does guarantee that Salmons will have more consistent PT. Pick him up at your discretion, but I will tell you that I already have in one of my leagues. He had 13pts in 37mins last night.

- Jason Kidd had another triple-double (13pts, 11rebs, 10assts and also 2stls, 2blks) as the Nets lost in Mile-High. Denver was missing Carmelo Anthony again, but pulled out the win. Kenyon Martin (20pts, 7rebs) and Linas Kleiza (23pts, 11rebs) filled in nicely, while AI was AI with 30pts. Josh Boone has also been more than solid lately (13pts, 14rebs in 33mins), while Sean Williams (14mins, 2pts, 4rebs on 1-7 shooting) has struggled. It seems the factor in Williams' production and PT has not been foul trouble lately, but instead the return of Antoine Wright in the rotation (27mins, 13pts). If this is to be the case, then Sean Williams is droppable because Nenad Krstic is close to returning to the lineup. This will create even more difficulties for Williams to keep consistent PT in the rotation. My personal move on this is to wait another game or two and observe Sean Williams' numbers and PT in the those games and if the minutes continue the way they currently are, then I will drop him for a different piece.

- Houston has been on a roll lately winning 4 straight and 8 of their last 10, including this one at the Rose Garden in Portland. As I've mentioned before, T-Mac is back, although Adelman continues to bring him in off the bench, which has worked well so far, considering he's still getting starter minutes (35 in this one for 15pts). As expected, Rafer Alston (20mins, 9pts) and Luther Head (4pts, 17mins), as well as other guard options for the Rockets are now relatively useless for fantasy with the return of McGrady. No one was spectacular for the Rockets as they got the ugly win (40% shooting, 20 TO's). For Portland, Brandon Roy led the way with 23pts, but no one else really contributed. As a team, the Blazers shot 35.7% from the field and commited 16 TO's. This was a Rockets game of the past years when Jeff Van Gundy had been the coach.

- The last game of the night was between Atlanta and Seattle in the great northwest. In past seasons, this game would have been meaningless at this stage of the season, but this year Atlanta currently holds the 7th seed in the East at 18-21 and they are the franchise that has been without a playoff berth for the longest current consecutive number of seasons. The Hawks had a decent lead for most the game and eventually won with a huge game out of Marvin Williams (33pts, 7rebs, 3stls), the former 2nd pick, who has been one of the most consistent players in the league this season (double figures in EVERY Hawks game he's played this season, but one in late November). On the Supes' side, Chris Wilcox reentered the starting rotation and had 18pts, 7rebs on 7-9 shooting in 31mins. Rookies Kevin Durant and Jeff Green continue to struggle from the field. Durant had 17pts, but shot only 7-21 from the field as he continues to be one of the worst players in the league effecting FG% in fantasy. Jeff Green played 19mins in this game to score a total of 1pt on 0-3 from the field.