Yesterday

A LOT of stuff happened last night to be aware of, but I was a bit busy to make those updates. I apologize for that and will make some of those points now:

- Cleveland murdered the Wizards last night in the 3rd quarter, scoring 43 pts while holding the Wiz to just 17. Because of this, most of the regulars in this game got limited playing time due to the score late in the game. With that said, keep all you Cavs and Wizards in your lineups and watch their next contests.

- Detroit won in Philly in normal Detroit fashion (86-78). I wouldn't even mention this game, but I wanted to call attention to two areas, Tayshaun Prince and the Philly youngsters. Prince deserves attention because he's been unbelievably streaky and, in a word, bad this season. His averages are 13ppg, 4.7rpg and 3apg on 44% shooting. Those don't seem that bad, but he's a guy who should also give you a 3 and close to a block and steal every night. He averaging a total of 1.5pg in those 3 categories. He's a guy who won't hurt you for having him, but he's having a bad fantasy season. He's a guy who always seems to get some hype for potentially breaking out on a team with aging stars and as a guy who's got all the skills in the world, but he's always been around 15-5-3. He's still pretty close to those numbers right now, but he's usually very consistent and solid. This year he's been very streaky with production and seems to be declining while he should be a rising star. My take on him is that if you're in a H2H league that's not very deep, he's worth a drop for hot players. For Philly, they've got 4 huge talents coming off the bench right now. I've mentioned Thaddeus Young and Louis Williams a few times. At this point, Louis Williams isn't a secret in the fantasy world anymore. Thaddeus Young, Jason Smith and Rodney Carney are relative unknowns however. Young and Carney are both great athletes who will get playing time before the end of this season. Carney's a 2nd year guy, who needs to get evaluated and Young has already shown flashes. Smith is good player as well, who will get the starting job sooner than later from what I've seen. He's going to get Reggie Evans' starting spot before the end of the season and it won't be because of injury. He's a legit big, who could succeed in the league. These 4 guys got the 6th-9th spots in the rotation in the game last night and they need to be watched because a pickup of one of them will be a factor in one of your leagues late in the season. It happens every season and this season is no exception.

- Not much on Dallas/Charlotte since it was a pretty quiet game (102-95 Dallas)

- Toronto won in Boston. That's huge in its own right, but for them to get 20-7-7 from Bargnani was even bigger. Calderon was the hero who hit the game-winning "and 1" bank shot. Eddie House missed his tie attempt and so did Ray Allen off the offensive rebound. The Celtics are showing that the players on their team are human. They're having some struggles, but with the All-Star break approaching, I believe they will be more than fine. People who expected 70 wins might be slightly disappointed, but that was a ridiculous expectation for a team that's not even that deep.

- Orlando killed the Grizzlies in Tennessee, 112-85. Mo Evans got the better of the the time-share with Keith Bogans last night, but he still wasn't worth keeping on my team, as I dropped him for Thabo Sefolosha, who keeps starting and producing (more on him later).

- The shocker of the night was in Minnesota, where Phoenix lost not only the game, but also sole possession of 1st place in the west. Al Jefferson had a career high 39pts and added 15rebs for support. Needless to say, he was unstoppable last night. Corey Brewer showed some life off the bench with 13pts on 6-11 shooting in 30mins. The loss last night created a tie with New Orleans after they won against Portland.

- Speaking of which, the final score was 96-81. In a battle of two young teams, the better (IMHO) won. Chris Paul is showing the world why he is THE MVP of the NBA. He's got his team percentage points ahead of Phoenix as the best team in the deeper, better western conference. Jannero Pargo was the lift off the bench in this game with a season high and game high of 24pts. This Hornets team is showing that they're legit, just by keeping on winning, while other supposed "better" teams are struggling. No one on Portland could get a rhythm with the whole team shooting under 40% for the game.

- Chicago got a win without the services of Luol Deng and Ben Gordon, both out with various injuries. Deng could be out for a few weeks so monitor that situation closely as I will for the next few days for updates. As I mentioned before, Thabo Sefolosha should be getting picked up in most leagues now, after his production since being inserted in the starting rotation. He can help with points, steals and somewhat in rebounding, which is more than solid from a guy off the waiver wire. Nocioni and Thabo are the subjects of rumors as of right now, but these can't really be taken too seriously since Noc has always been at the center of rumors with his value. IMHO, it would be a dumb trade for the Bulls since they're not getting the big man they need out of the trade.

- In the Atlanta @ Denver game, the final score didn't matter too much to me, but the ridiculous fantasy line that Josh Smith put up did. He had his 1st career triple-double and it was in Josh Smith fashion. He had 22pts, 12rebs, 10assts, 5blks, 3stls and bad shooting (8-23). That's a ridiculous line. Carmelo also missed this game due to his hig ankle sprain and it's not yet certain how much time he will miss, but that's another situation that needs to be closely monitored. Oh yeah, Marcus Camby had 21rebs and 4blks.

- LA probably should have beaten SA last night, even in San Antonio. They were up 9 at halftime, but fell apart in the 3rd quarter. Kobe had a big night with 29pts, 12rebs, but his night was no match for Duncan, who had a classic performance with 28pts, 17rebs and 3blks.

- Houston pulled out a tight one in Seattle after they were down by 10 in the 4th quarter. McGrady came off the bench again and was fantastic. He played 34mins and had 28pts, including big plays down the stretch. For Seattle, they played well, but couldn't hold on. Chris Wilcox only played 15mins and scored 4pts, still apparently not 100%. This is a great opportunity for owners to try and trade Nick Collison at high value. Wilcox will return to the starting rotation soon, but for owners with Collison right now, they can try and trade him to a less knowledgeable owner, not understanding the situation in Seattle.

- One game after Sacramento seemed to be clicking on all cylinders, they lose to the lowly Clippers. They allowed the Clips to shoot 57%, which I believe could be a season high. Chris Kaman had a 20pt-21reb game in this one and shot 9-13 from the field. If you were to trade Kaman at any point of this season, it'd be NOW or right before the All-Star break. There are many people who are skeptical of Kaman's performance thus far this season, like myself, but there are also people who believe his game is legitimate and he's a great value center. My feeling is that he's got some motivation to be doing what he's doing, but he can't keep it up. He's never proven he's a player of this caliber and once their All-Star, Elton Brand, returns, Kaman has even less chance to keep this up. If you need other categories and are good for rebounds, you TRADE Chris Kaman. John Salmons was apparently injured in the Kings' last contest and returned to play 22mins in this one. He only had 8pts on 3-8 shooting so if you did drop him, you didn't miss much.