Fantasy Basketball News and Notes from 11/4: LeBron, Russell Westbrook and More

There wasn’t a whole lot of action last night, but what we did see was good and there is some news to share as well. So here is all you need to know from a slow Thursday.

Notes

• Apparently LeBron James is battling a deep right shin bruise that is keeping him from being 100% percent and is the cause of his not getting any rebounds in his last game, the first time since he was a rookie. It’s not going to cause him to miss any time though and it’s not like you are going to bench him, so I’m not sure why I’m reporting this. This one is for all the overreactors out there I guess. 
• Marvin Williams has a bone bruise of his own on his knee and he will miss time as he didn’t make the trip to Minnesota for tonight’s game. The Hawks are hopeful it’ll only be one game that he misses, but keep an eye on the situation.
• If you hadn’t heard, the reason for Rodney Stuckey’s 14 minutes of action Wednesday Night was due to a dispute with Pistons coach John Kuesters. Apparently the two have not been on good terms and it came to a head in the middle of the game the other night. This team is a mess. There are no reports that this will have carryover effects, but it is worth noting.
• Word out of Minnesota is that Johnny Flynn could be back in action in three weeks time barring any setbacks. Flynn is a sneaky fantasy play as he hasn’t been on many radars because of the injury, but he showed a lot of promise last year. Luke Ridnour has played well in his absence, but Flynn should work his way into a time-share at some point, if not wrestle the job away completely.
• Baron Davis continues to be day-to-day and could miss the entire four-game road trip that’s upcoming for the Clippers. If he isn’t able to go Eric Bledsoe could be a top pickup for fantasy leagues in the coming days. Even if Baron does come back, Bledsoe may be worth the add as I don’t think coach Vinny Del Negro is in a rush to give the out-of-shape Davis a bunch of minutes.

Game Notes

• Toney Douglas went off for the Knicks last night, who really got a good effort from everyone, but their best player. Douglas scored a career-high 30 points including five three-pointers. Along with that came four assists and four steals to round out a fantastic night. Douglas is the primary backup point guard as well as seeing time at the 2 guard spot as the Knicks do run a lot of small-ball, three-guard sets. Douglas has scored in double figures in every game so far, and while this game was probably not the norm, he’s a good source of points, steals and threes off the waiver wire.
• Danillo Galinari got it going last night, and on behalf of Galinari owners worldwide let me say, it’s about time. Galinari has been battling a wrist injury that has apparently messed with his shot, but there were no signs of it last night as he scored 24 points and was a perfect 4–4 from downtown. Hopefully this will continue and he won’t regress.
• If you are in a turnover league and you own Amar'e Stoudemire you have to be getting concerned. Another eight turnovers last night bring his season average to 6.3. You have to assume it’s going to even out eventually, but right now it’s a category killer.
• It was a coming out party for Raymond Felton last night as he scored 20 points, dished out 10 assists and threw in five boards and two steals just for good measure. This was by far the best game of the year for Felton and the kind of game you were hoping to get with Felton in D’Antoni’s system. I’m not convinced how often we’ll see it, but we know Felton has the potential for it.
• It seems as if Derrick Rose is on a mission to make me look stupid after I claimed he had been drafted too high in leagues. Right now he is doing everything I complained he didn’t do previously including making some threes and getting more assists. A lot more assists actually as he has 27 in his last two games.
• I was high on Kyle Korver going into the season cause I felt like he was the best Bulls shooter and that there would be plenty of good shots to take in this offense. The last two games have shown that, especially last night when he made four three-pointers and scored 18 points. The Bulls seem to be down on Ronnie Brewer already and while Keith Bogans may continue to start because of his defensive play, Korver will see plenty of time as a spot-up shooter and is a classic category specialist for fantasy purposes.
• Andre Miller may be getting up there in age, but he still has his moments and he looked good last night scoring 16 points and adding 11 assists, six rebounds and two steals. He won’t do this every game, but he’ll still get a handful of double-doubles throughout the season.
• Last night was the third time this year that Russell Westbrook has gone over 20 points, and it seems like it’s going to be a pattern that continues. Westbrook also pulled down 11 rebounds, which is the second time in double digits there. He still can’t shoot threes it seems, but his FT percentage is up and he’s going to do everything else.

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