| RECENT NBA NEWS provided by RotoWire.com |
| Coverwire Update |
Coverwire Take |
| Monta Ellis (G) GS |
3/11/2010 |
| Ellis (back) returned to game action Thursday night for the first time since February 25. |
Ellis scored 17 points (7-for-15 FG, 2-for-3 FT) with three boards, two assists, two steals and a three pointer in 28 minutes before fouling out. Barring a setback he looks safe to use going forward. |
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| Ronny Turiaf (F) GS |
3/11/2010 |
| Turiaf (knee) will not play in Thursday's game against the Blazers, the Contra Costa Times reports. |
Turiaf injured his knee in Saturday's game against the Bobcats and remains day-to-day. Thursday will be the second strait game he's missed with the injury. The Warriors' next game is on Saturday against the Raptors. |
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| Derrick Rose (G) CHI |
3/11/2010 |
| Rose (wrist) has been diagnosed with a sprained left wrist and will not return to Thursday's game against the Magic. |
Rose injured the wrist after colliding with Dwight Howard while going in for a layup. X-rays were taken that came back negative. He'll be day-to-day going forward, and his status for Friday's game against the Heat is unknown at this time. Rose played all of the first quarter before leaving the game and finished with just three points and two assists. |
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| Derrick Rose (G) CHI |
3/11/2010 |
| Rose left Thursday's game against the Magic at the beginning of the second quarter with an injured left wrist. |
Rose went to the locker room to tend to his ailing left wrist. His status for the rest of the game is not yet known. The Bulls are having an X-ray taken on the wrist. |
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| Luol Deng (G) CHI |
3/11/2010 |
| Deng (calf) did not play in Thursday's game against the Magic. |
Deng is expected to miss Friday's game against the Heat as well but could return for Tuesday's game against Memphis. He's currently recovering from a strained right calf that he suffered in Tuesday's loss to the Jazz. |
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| Mickael Pietrus (G) ORL |
3/11/2010 |
| Pietrus (neck) is day-to-day with a neck strain and will miss Thursday's game against the Bulls, the Orlando Sentinel reports. |
Pietrus has played in 62 of the Magic's 65 games this season, but his inability to avoid minor injuries is one of the reasons he was never able to establish and keep himself in the starting lineup. |
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| Michael Beasley (F) MIA |
3/11/2010 |
| Beasley (thigh) will be a game-time decision for Friday's game against the Bulls, ESPN reports. |
Beasley bruised his left thigh in Wednesday's game. He briefly sat on the sidelines but was able to return and finish out the game. Hopefully a day of rest on Thursday will give him the time he needs to heal up and play in Friday's game. Daily leagues will want to check his status shortly before game time on Friday. |
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| Ty Lawson (G) DEN |
3/11/2010 |
| Lawson (shoulder) is questionable for Friday's game against the Hornets, the Denver Post reports. |
Lawson should be kept on benches until his return is officially announced. He's missed the Nuggets' last five games with a bruised left shoulder and remains day-to-day. |
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| Monta Ellis (G) GS |
3/11/2010 |
| Ellis (back) participated in the Warriors' shootaround Thursday and will play against Portland, Comcast Sportsnet reporter Matt Steinmetz reports. |
Ellis hasn't played since February 25, but he has obviously proven himself as a must-start. Expectations for this game should be relatively modest, though Ellis typically performs well in his first games back from injury. |
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| Ronny Turiaf (F) GS |
3/11/2010 |
| Turiaf (knee) did not practice on Wednesday and is questionable for Thursday's game against Portland, the Contra Costa Times reports. |
C.J Hunter should get Turiaf's minutes if he can't go. |
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| Rodney Stuckey (G) DET |
3/11/2010 |
| Pistons coach John Kuester said the team will have a clearer picture on when Stuckey (head) can return to practice on Thursday, the Detroit News reports. |
Kuester is optimistic that his star point guard will be able to return to game action this season. Look for more details, and maybe a timetable, to surface in the next couple days. |
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| Chris Andersen (C) DEN |
3/11/2010 |
| Andersen (knee) posted a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with 14 points and three blocks during Denver's win in Minnesota on Wednesday night. |
We don't know how long this guy's knee will hold up, but with Kenyon Martin sidelined Andersen has become a good bet to grab six to 10 rebounds a night with some scoring and blocks thrown in. Use with caution but definitely grab him if you're in need in any of those statistical categories. |
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| Anthony Tolliver (F) GS |
3/11/2010 |
| Tolliver produced a 14-point/11-rebound double-double on Thursday night against the Trail Blazers. He made 4-of-9 shots from the field and 4-of-4 from the line, knocked down two treys, blocked a shot and added an assist in 37 minutes of action. |
Tolliver was coming off of consecutive appearances in which he had averaged only seven points and 4.5 boards, so this outing was important to show that he still is getting minutes for the Warriors and still has some fantasy relevance. |
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| Rudy Fernandez (G) POR |
3/11/2010 |
| Playing at Golden State on Thursday, Fernandez hit four of six three-point attempts. |
Though he doesn't perform excellently in other categories, the Spaniard's three-point prowess keeps him in the conversation of relevant fantasy players. |
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| Andre Miller (G) POR |
3/11/2010 |
| Despite a poor 4-of-15 shooting performance Thursday night at Golden State, Miller put together a productive fantasy line on the strength of his four steals and seven assists. |
The steals mark a season high, set December 9th at Indiana. |
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| Brandon Roy (G) POR |
3/11/2010 |
| Brandon Roy had a nutso fantasy performance at Golden State on Thursday night, scoring 41 points on 14-of-22 shooting from the floor. |
Roy scored over a third of Portland's 110 points in the victory, shooting 63.6% while the rest of the team shot a combined 22-of-64 (34.4%). It was the guard's best game since early January. |
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| Nick Young (G) WAS |
3/11/2010 |
| Young scored 17 points (5-for-11 FG, 6-for-6 FT) with two steals, a trey, a blocked shot and an assist in 29 minutes off the bench Thursday night. |
After falling out of the Wizards rotation, Young has now produced consecutive games of at least 17 points. There is no guarantee that this continues, but after two games it is worth paying more attention to as the possible start to a trend. |
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| JaVale McGee (C) WAS |
3/11/2010 |
| McGee scored an efficient 20 points (10-for-13 FG) on Thursday night against the Hawks. He also added nine board and an assist in 38 minutes of action. |
The 20 points were a season high for McGee, who has shown signs of strong play as he has adjusted to his larger role on the new look Wizards. |
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| Andray Blatche (F) WAS |
3/11/2010 |
| Blatche exploded for 30 points (12-for-19 FG, 6-for-6 FT) with 10 boards and three steals on Thursday against the Hawks. On the down side, he did lose seven turnovers. |
Blatche has lost between four and eight turnovers in six of his last eight games, which is a negative for those in leagues that detract for that. Nevertheless, with strong scoring games now against both the Hawks and the Celtics Blatche is proving that he can be counted on to produce points and rebounds regardless of the competition. |
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| Jamal Crawford (G) ATL |
3/11/2010 |
| Crawford led the Hawks with 29 points off the bench Thursday night. He knocked down 8-of-16 from the field and 9-of-11 from the line, made four 3-pointers and dished three assists in 30 minutes of action. |
Crawford has knocked down multiple three pointers in six straight games, and continues to pay big dividends to his owners from behind the arc. |
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| Jannero Pargo (G) CHI |
3/11/2010 |
| Pargo started the second half of Thursday's game against the Magic as the replacement for the injured Derrick Rose. |
Rose's sprained left wrist is believed to be a mild injury, but Pargo could earn a spot start in Friday's game against the Heat. |
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| James Johnson (F) CHI |
3/11/2010 |
| Johnson started at small forward as the replacement for Luol Deng who is expected to miss Thursday and Friday's game with a strained right calf. |
Johnson started only one other game this season and recorded nine points, two rebounds, and two blocks in 24 minutes of action. He'll get his third career start in Friday's game against Memphis but will move back to the bench when Deng is ready to return, which could be as earlier as next Tuesday. |
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| Kevin Love (C) MIN |
3/11/2010 |
| Love had pointed words to share concerning the Timberwolves' coaching staff and the lack of clarity in the team's gameplan, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. |
Love has seen his shooting percentage dip to 42 percent over his last 10 games and believes it is due to the lack of solid direction from the coaching staff. "My shooting percentage is down the past 10 games, because I don't know when I'm going to get the ball," Love said. "(Rambis) is into precision, but I don't feel like we know 100 percent what we need to do out there. There's some confusion, and that's kind of on us and kind of on them [the coaching staff]." |
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| Jeff Green (F) OKC |
3/11/2010 |
| Green would welcome the chance to sign an extension with the Thunder this summer, he told The Oklahoman. |
Green and Kevin Durant will both be eligible to sign extensions this summer. The question Oklahoma City will have to answer is whether or not they should extend them contracts this offseason. With a new collective bargaining agreement coming into play after 2010, player salaries are expected to take a big hit. |
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