NBA Weekly Preview
About the Writer: Kevin Roberts is a Concordia University graduate with over five years of experience in covering the NFL, NBA, Fantasy Basketball and Fantasy Football. He has had several articles featured on FOXSports.com and CBSSports.com, owns and operates NFLSoup.com and NBASoup.com, and currently resides in Florida with his wife.
February brings fantasy basketball to a bit of a halt this week, as the NBA All-Star game and all of its festivities take center stage. For fantasy fans, it means your weekly lineup has been ravaged, or your art of daily game playing may be compromised.
Whatever your stance, its important to note the effect of this week, as many teams play just one game, and the most any teams play is two. First, the lack of games makes it a little easier in picking your stand-out players. However, second, there is far less room for error.
To have you as best prepared as possible, we’re diving deep into everything that is happening this week to help you form the best possible fantasy basketball lineups and win. Before you decide who you’re plugging into your daily lineup, keep in mind who is preparing for their only game of the week, and who has two attempts to enter the All-Star game is style.
The following teams have two games this week, while the rest of the teams in the league have one:
- Miami Heat
- Indiana Pacers
- Chicago Bulls
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Sacramento Kings
- Utah Jazz
- Phoenix Suns
- New Orleans Hornets
- Golden State Warriors
- Dallas Mavericks
Injury Report
If you plan on using Ersan Ilyasova or Corey Maggette for their final contest this week, be sure to check their status, as Ilyasova left Monday’s blow-out win over the Clippers with a left eye injury, and Maggette missed the game with a bad back.
Portland Trail Blazers stars Brandon Roy and Marcus Camby both missed game action on Monday night, and aren’t safe bets to be rushed back for Portland’s last game before the All-Star break.
Minnesota’s Michael Beasley tweaked his ankle and missed Monday’s action, and with just one game remaining this week, is a strong candidate to sit out for the second straight game.
Utah’s Andrei Kirilenko has been ruled out of Tuesday’s match with the Phoenix Suns due to an ankle injury, and could end up sitting out until after the All-Star break.
Despite a neck injury scare in practice on Monday, Indiana star Danny Granger is expected to make the start against the Miami Heat. Monitor his status for Tuesday night, as well as for his last game of the week.
Rotation Probation
Tired of wondering when certain guys are going to get the minutes they deserve? Rotation Probation puts speculation to an end, or at least makes you aware of it in the first place, in an effort to curb the impact of horrible rotations and sketchy roles ruining your daily fantasy basketball experience.
D.J. Augustin is probably the biggest name that is coming up that is dealing with role and minutes issues, as he is in a full-fledged battle with back-up Shaun Livingston. Livingston’s minutes have increasingly gotten more steady over the past two weeks, while he has found a way to double figures in scoring in four of his last six contests. Augustin is still logging decent minutes (and is the starter), but has dropped in three straight clunkers with under eight points. There is a real competition here, so keep an eye on both players’ production and minutes following the All-Star break. In the interim, stay away from both until this starts working itself out.
We touched on two Milwaukee Bucks players in the injury section, and there are worries that one could tie in to the value of the sharp-shooting Carlos Delfino. Scott Skiles has voiced his love for “Corey Maggette(player-profile)”:/players/Corey_Maggette-1295’s ability to create for himself and get to the line, while he doesn’t feel the team can afford to keep shooters like Delfino on the bench. Translation: Both guys should log roughly 30 minutes per game, while guys like Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Chris Douglas-Roberts will receive the negative impact.
Indiana Pacers fans can rejoice now that Jim O’Brien is gone. Since O’Brien got canned, the Pacers have been a much better and more consistent squad. In fact, completely opposite of O’Brien’s inconsistent rotations, new interim head coach Frank Vogel has maintained the same exact starting lineup for eight straight games. Roy Hibbert has value again, Danny Granger is still the star we’ve grown to know and love, and young guys like Tyler Hansbrough, Josh McRoberts, and Paul George are carving out their own roles. Hibbert and Granger can be played as you wish, while I’ll take McRoberts between the other three for now, as he provides the most versatility with help in points, rebounds, and blocks.
Luke Ridnour may have stolen back his starting point guard job in Minnesota after starting the second half for Minnesota on Monday night, and ending the game with 16 points and four assists. Jonny Flynn hasn’t done anything to thwart off the veteran, and Ridnour has looked sharp in his past two games. Look for Ridnour to keep it going and earn the edge in minutes the rest of the way.
Risers and Fallers
DeJuan Blair, F/C, San Antonio Spurs (Riser)
Blair has been a beast lately, scoring a career high 28 points, while grabbing 11 rebounds in a game against Toronto last week. On top of that, he’s thrown in four straight games with at least 10 rebounds, and is starting to become a legit double-double threat. He’s only going to keep picking up steam, so see if you can use his solid value to your advantage in salary cap games.
DeAndre Jordan, F/C, Los Angeles Clippers (Faller)
Jordan took the league by storm earlier this year with solid efforts and a double-double mentality. However, he has since been completely lost in the shadow of Blake Griffin, and has simply been an inconsistent fantasy contributor. Combine that with “Chris Kaman(player-profile)”:/players/Chris_Kaman-1405’s pending return, and he could fall even further following the All-Star break.
Don’t Drop Them, But They’re Hot
In an effort to tell you something you hopefully already know, Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge is on an insane tear, and it may not end until (unless) Brandon Roy returns (to form) after the All-Star break. Aldridge has put up 35+ points in four of his last eight games, while averaging nearly 38 points per game over the past seven days. Ride the wave.
Matchup Special
In fantasy basketball, part of the game is analyzing your matchup, and simply combining mismatches with general production. Mere logic points to all Lakers’ stars (except Ron Artest, ugh) being a go against the Cleveland Cavaliers this week. There’s a decent chance the Cavaliers give a better fight than the debacle they poured in a few weeks ago, but there’s almost no chance they hang tough with Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, and Lamar Odom inside. If you didn’t need the warning before, stay away from Cleveland players for the rest of the week, and roll with the L.A. crew.
Sleeper of the Week
Carlos Delfino – G/F, Milwaukee Bucks
Delfino has only scored in double figures in two of his last six contests, but both times he scored 21+, and they have been back-to-back performances. That, and he’s fresh off of hitting seven treys and gets the defensively inept Denver Nuggets on Wednesday. Delfino will likely get the green light to launch shots against the potent Nuggets, while the possibility of either Ersan Ilyasova or Corey Maggette missing action due to injury only adds to his value.