Bullet points from an NBA Tuesday for your viewing pleasure. Please post your specific questions in the comment section below.
• Thaddeus Young(notes) has a fractured right thumb and is out
indefinitely. The silver lining here is that it’s his non-shooting
hand, but he’s out Wednesday and certainly is immediately expendable if
your are fighting for your playoff/championship life and need an active
player. Young’s per-game rank is 109th over the past month, thanks to moderate averages across the board (31 minutes, 13.2 points, 50% FG, 74% FT, 0.7 threes, 5.1 boards, 1.2 assists, 1.8 turnovers, 1.4 steals, 0.3 blocks). The 76ers play three games in each of the next two weeks, so
you’ll have the opportunity to add another game or two to those totals in the
exchange. Jason Kapono(notes) and Rodney Carney(notes) figure to see more time in his absence … Also for the 76ers: Louis Williams(notes) missed Monday’s game
with back spasms and will be a
game-time decision Wednesday.
• Joe Johnson(notes) missed Tuesday’s game with a sore Achilles and is also likely to miss Wednesday’s game. Jeff Teague(notes) got the start (20 minutes, 5 points) but Jamal Crawford(notes) (29 minutes, 25 points, 2 threes) and Maurice Evans(notes) (27 minutes, 12 points, 2 threes, 4 boards) were the ones that picked up the slack.
• Devin Harris(notes) missed Tuesday’s game with an upper respiratory
infection and we won’t know his status for Wednesday until closer to game time. Terrence Williams(notes) led the Nets in shot attempts (16, but only 5 makes) and turned in another useful line (32 minutes, 15 points, 6 boards, 4 assists, 2 turnovers) … Yi Jianlian(notes) has been out for 10 days with a high ankle
sprain and is still
a few days away from rejoining the Nets at practice.
• While no official announcement has been made, all signs point to Jose Calderon(notes) being back in the starting lineup when the Raptors take the court on Wednesday. Before you annoint Calderon as the savior of your season and jettison Jack from your roster, keep in mind that this has been a true platoon all along. Jack has averaged 28 minutes since the All-Star break, while Calderon has been only slightly behind the pace at 26 per game, and it’s doubtful that either one is headed for a major swing despite the role change.
• Chris Paul(notes) has been ramping up his activities and it now appears that the latest he’ll return to the active roster will be Monday. He’s been running with no visible signs of a limp and the possibility remains that he could be activated by Thursday (@DEN) or Saturday (@UTH), but Monday’s home game (DAL) appears to be the more likely option.
• Gerald Wallace(notes) (ankle) will miss his third straight game Wednesday but hopes to return to the lineup on Friday.
• Mike Dunleavy reached double-figures for the first time in the month (28 minutes, 15 points, 3 treys, 4 boards) but only played as much as he did because Brandon Rush(notes) dealt with foul trouble (21 minutes, 4 points, 5 fouls). He might actually get another shot at numbers Wednesday, as Danny Granger(notes) will not play after taking an elbow to
the cheek late in Tuesday’s game.
• Michael Beasley(notes) returned from his bruised left thigh but was (presumably) still limited by the injury (19 minutes, 3 of 10 FG, 5 boards).
• Another big night from Jason Maxiell(notes) (39 minutes, 10 points, 15 boards, 1 steal, 2 blocks), and that makes four double-doubles in a row. It’s hard to not recommend an add here, even though Ben Wallace’s(notes) status regarding his right knee remains vague … Rodney Stuckey(notes) could return
to practice with the Pistons Thursday and, if he has no set-backs,
could return to the lineup as early as Friday. Stuckey has said that he
wanted to get at least one practice in before he tried to return to game
action.
• Delonte West(notes) was inactive Tuesday as a precaution. He suffered a knee sprain on Sunday against the Celtics, so he may have just been held out because the team is playing a back-to-back. Look for an update on his status Wednesday. Neither Anthony Parker(notes) (18 minutes, 7 points) nor Daniel Gibson(notes) (22 minutes, 5 points) did much in his absence.
• James Johnson(notes) didn’t get another start Tuesday because he was late
to Monday’s practice. With Derrick Rose(notes) (wrist), Kirk Hinrich(notes) (suspension) and Luol Deng(notes) (calf) all out, the Bulls went with Acie Law(notes) (32 minutes, 18 points), Jannero Pargo(notes) (36 minutes, 12 points, 8 assists, 5 turnovers), and Flip Murray(notes) (38 minutes, 25 points, 5 steals) as starters … Deng isn’t likely to play Wednesday, either. Rose won’t
know if he’ll be able to go Wednesday until gameday. Joakim Noah(notes)
has been running a little, but he appears to be at least another week
away and probably
more.
• Marc Gasol(notes) missed his first game of the season with a strained neck muscle and is day-to-day. Everyone’s favorite draft bust, Hasheem Thabeet(notes), made his first start and played a very productive 28 minutes (10 points, 9 boards, 2 blocks, +21). It may or may not comes as a surprise to you, but Thabeet is second only to JaVale McGee(notes) in blocks per 48 minutes (5.1) among players that average at least 10 minutes per game.
• Shaun Livingston(notes) (19 minutes, 4 points, 5 boards, 6 assists Tuesday) will likely continue to start ahead of Randy Foye(notes) (18 minutes, 2 points, 2 assists) the rest of the way, assuming his health allows, but he certainly won’t see big minutes and neither appears to be rosterable at this point … Alonzo Gee(notes) got run on Tuesday and turned in a decent line (27 minutes, 13 points, 2 threes, 10 boards, 2 steals). His D-League numbers can be found here.
• Andray Blatche(notes) left Tuesday’s game with an ankle sprain but expects to play Friday … JaVale McGee has now averaged 7.5 points on 45-percent shooting, 5.7 boards, and 1.2 blocks in 24 minutes over the past six games. The Wizards schedule is great and he’s still starting but those kinds of numbers probably aren’t going to put you over the top even in a competitive standard league.
• It’s tough to figure out the mess on the wings in Sacramento, particularly now that Andres Nocioni(notes) is back in the mix. The minutes were divvied up as follows on Tuesday: Nocioni 22, Francisco Garcia(notes) 21, Donte Greene(notes) 20, Omri Casspi(notes) 18. If this keeps up, then none of the involved parties are rosterable.
• This just in: the T-Wolves are bad. Have you ever seen so many +/- numbers in the teens and twenties in one box score?
• Jason Terry(notes) went through practice Monday with no issues and appears
on track to return to the lineup on Wednesday.
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