Here’s a quick check of notable injury situations and a few things to pay particular attention to during Saturday’s game action.
• Both Dirk Nowitzki(notes) and Carl Landry(notes) sustained injuries during a collision in Friday’s game (video here). Nowitzki’s elbow knocked out or cracked five of Landry’s teeth, with some of them ending up embedded in said elbow. We should see updates on both players sometime on Saturday – Dirk may end up being able to go Sunday, but it’s a pretty safe bet that Landry will not play Saturday.
• Landry only playing six minutes in the overtime win opened up playing time for other Rockets reserves, and Kyle Lowry(notes) answered the call to the tune of 26 points, three treys, six boards, 10 assists, five steals, and a block in 39 minutes. Lowry is always a solid per-minute contributor and could end up with some sustained relevance if Landy misses extended time, but otherwise will remain outside of most radars.
• Antawn Jamison(notes) suffered a neck stinger Friday but is expected to be in the lineup when the Wizards face the Suns on Saturday. If he has a setback and were to end up missing time, Andray Blatche(notes) would need to be back on fantasy rosters.
• Allen Iverson’s(notes) various ailments (left knee arthritis, right leg stress reaction, left shoulder bruise) kept him out of the lineup Friday, and he’s also doubtful for Saturday and questionable for Tuesday. Eddie Jordan’s take:
"We think for certain he’ll be ready by the end of next week, maybe by
Washington, but not Saturday. He’s been
really battling some issues. We think he’ll be really, really healthy
by next week."
• The latest on Louis Williams(notes) is that all involved parties have agreed on December 26 as the earliest possible return, and the Sixers have only two games before then (Saturday LAC and Tuesday @WAS).
• Chauncey Billups’(notes) groin injury kept him inactive Friday, and he’s likely to miss Sunday’s game as well. With the team off Monday and Tuesday, George Karl would like Billups to use the extra time to be sure that he’s 100 percent when he does return, and that’s likely to be Wednesday.
• For those of you wondering what happened to your Jazz regulars on Friday: none of the team’s first unit played more than 24 minutes in the 96-83 loss, as they were benched after allowing the Hawks stake a 30-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
• Jason Richardson(notes) is still dealing with some swelling and soreness
in his sprained right hand, but he participated in the team’s
shootaround and will give it a go Saturday night.
• Keep an eye on Jerryd Bayless(notes) Saturday (@ORL) to see how he follows
up the best performance of his career (29 points, 2 threes, 4 assists
in 29 minutes Thursday). It came against the porous Suns defense and in
a game where starter Andre Miller(notes) played just 18 minutes, so there are
certainly no guarantees here. The Blazers have been needing a spark,
however, and Bayless was the catalyst in a 15-point comeback in
Thursday’s game.
• Also keep an eye on Boris Diaw(notes) – and Stephen Jackson’s(notes) – numbers Saturday (UTH). Larry Brown said Friday that Diaw needs to start shooting more and that, for the team to be successful, the ball will need to go through him a lot more than it has been since Jackson arrived. That certainly makes sense on paper, but putting it to practice is a completely different scenario.
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