Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective. Surprisingly, the Timberwolves were able to make a game out of last night's contest against the Celtics. The C's pulled it off in the end, but the T-Wolves kept it close from the opening tip, and actually had the lead for most of the game.
The star of the game just so happened to be Oleksiy Pecherov, who I mentioned in Tuesday's post as a guy to add in deep leagues. Well, standard leagues, it's time to become acquainted with Mr. Pecherov. He posted a game high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting with eight rebounds, one three-pointer and a steal. You won't see him lead the T-Wolves in scoring often, but he does have the ability to put up 15 points on a given night, adding some nice range for a big man.
The Celtics were led by Rajon Rondo who had 18 points, six assists and three steals. I'm standing by my claim that he's going to lead the league in steals. Kevin Garnett added 12 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks, a steal and a burning desire to win.
Also In the Headlines
• Vince Carter sat out last night's game against the Suns, and is listed now as day-to-day. Nothing I can tell you other than to keep your eyes peeled for updates on whether or not he plays on Friday against Detroit. The Magic did get Mickael Pietrus back in the lineup -- 15 points, three treys, one steal, and one block -- but it was Ryan Anderson and Matt Barnes who came up big.
• Dwight Howard was held to five rebounds for the second straight game. He also failed to record a block for the first time this season. This was mostly due to the fact that he found himself in early foul trouble yet again. If there's one positive note to take from Howard's performance, he did shoot 7-of-8 from the free-throw line and has now made 16 of his last 20 attempts.
• Jason Richardson and Grant Hill were both held scoreless in last night's game against the Magic. This hurt, especially since Leandro Barbosa missed the game with a wrist injury. Barbosa should return at the end of the week. In his absence it was Goran Dragic who benefited with 15 points, four rebounds and six assists. Re-read the first sentence in this blurb again and that should tell you all you need to know about his performance.
• I'll give propers to Dwyane Wade and Gilbert Arenas for their shootout last night. Wade scored 40 points and Arenas scored 32 of his own. Go see if they're available in your waiver wire. If they are, it's likely that you play in a Western Conference only league.
• Mike Miller is out 7-to-10 days with a shoulder sprain. More the reason to jump on Randy Foye for the next two weeks.
• Jose Calderon still can't put it together -- nine points, two rebounds, one assist (!), two steals and one block. My guess is that he's not finding a rhythm with Hedo Turkoglu. Nothing you can do about it, though, since you can't drop him and you can't really trade him since his value is so low. For now you just have to live with it. Sorry, bros.
• Chris Douglas-Roberts is the guy to own right now in New Jersey. While Devin Harris remains out for the next week or so, CD-R has averaged 20.6 points in his absence. He added 17 points last night and should now be a universal add.
• David Lee gets a mention not only for his 20 points and 19 rebounds, but because he added two blocks and two steals. His teammate Larry Hughes burned me a night after I told you he would. It's like clockwork.I just cannot bring myself to owning him.
• Trevor Ariza may have had 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists, but it was his 5-of-21 shooting that just killed his owners. Momma said there'd be days like this, but let's hope there aren't many more. His former teammate Kobe Bryant dropped 41 points for the second time in three games. He's still got it.
• Pau Gasol looks like he might lace up his shoes and get on the court this Friday night. Finally. Of course this means that Andrew Bynum now has to miss time, right? Well, he apparently sprained his elbow last night and will have an MRI on Thursday. Stay tuned.
• Rodrigue Beaubois got his first career start last night -- nine points, zero rebounds and one assist. Nothing doing here.
• After dropping 40 on the Jazz two nights ago, Dirk Nowitzki decided to take the night off, scoring 12 points in 37 minutes.
• Jason Thompson double-doubled last night with 22 points and 12 rebounds against the Hawks. You might want to see if you can buy Thompson now, because I have a feeling he's about to go off.
Lost and Found
• Austin Daye with two blocks and a steal. He's a guy to keep an eye on. Nothing going just yet, but an interesting player to follow.
• Eight different Nuggets picked up at least one steal against the Nets, with Nene Hilario taking two and adding three blocks.
• Solomon Jones had three blocks against the Knicks. Not sure how many times you'll read the name 'Solomon Jones' in any of my posts going forward, but I'll put the over/under at two.
• Erick Dampier had three blocks last night, giving him 12 over the past three games. I can't argue against adding him, especially with his four straight games with double-figure rebounding.
Classified Adds
• Ryan Anderson posted his first double-double of the season with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting, three treys and 10 rebounds. It'll be interesting to see where he fits into the rotation once Rashard Lewis returns in two weeks, but since he's scored at least 16 points in four of his first five games this season you can comfortably add him and ride the lightning until that day comes.
• Will Bynum with a strong performance against the Raptors. I mentioned him yesterday as a nice short-term add and it paid off last night -- 16 points, six assists, two three-pointers and a steal. Hamilton is expected to return later on this week, so his time in the spotlight might be short-lived.
• Ty Lawson scored 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting in just 27 minutes against the Nets. He added three treys, four rebounds, two assists and a steal. It's nice to know he can bust out and post a killer line like this from time-to-time, but don't read too much into it. This game was over in the 3rd quarter, and the Nuggets as a team were having a tough time missing from the field against the Nets "defense" -- 53.0-percent on the game. • Chuck Hayes is averaging 2.5 steals per game as a center. Sure he's only 6-6, but he pulled down 14 rebounds against Andrew Bynum and the rest of the Lakers frontline. He should start getting a serious look as a plus-defender in the middle, and added to teams in need of another center.
• Jamal Crawford led the Hawks in scoring for the second straight game, dropping 26 points -- Joe Johnson also had 26 for the Hawks. Many of his owners have dropped Crawford out of frustration after his slow start. It looks like he's getting into the groove on the offensive side of the ball. Check to see if he's out there on your waiver wires. It's not often you can get a 20-point scorer off the wire after the season starts.
• Wouldn't you know, I dropped Anthony Morrow in our FanHouse league and of course he goes off for 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting and 4-of-4 from beyond the three-point line. Such is life. I still own him in a number of leagues, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is the game that gets him going.
Lotto Line
3-4-7-18-27
• Allen Iverson came off the bench to play 27 minutes, scoring 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting with three rebounds, seven assists and four turnovers. He's all yours. Iverson is already complaining about coming off the bench Lionel Hollins is none to happy about talking Iverson. I'm with you. I'd rather not talk Iverson, but I guess he needs to get some credit for helping the Grizzlies lose to the Golden State Warriors. It's going to be a long season in Memphis.
