Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.Don Nelson missed a pretty sick game last night due to his battle with pneumonia. The Warriors, under Keith Smart's tutelage, beat the Mavs 111-103. Only six Warriors saw action, with Monta Ellis, Anthony Morrow and Vladimir Radmanovic playing all 48 minutes. Ellis led the way with a game-high 37 points, eight assists, four steals and, unfortunately, 11 turnovers.
Anthony Morrow scored 20-plus points for the second straight game going for 27 on 9-of-16 shooting, nine rebounds, three steals and six three-pointers. I can't stress enough how undervalued Morrow is. I'm sure you can tell as I can't seem to stop talking about this guy? Radmanovic is a nice deep league add right now as he double-doubled for the first time this season -- 14 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and two three-pointers. I don't think he's quite add-able in standard leagues, as I can easily stop talking about him. But if he keeps playing 40-plus minutes per game, that might change things. Don Nelson should be back on Saturday. The best I can say is, "we'll see."
Also In the Headlines
• Elton Brand left last night's game early after injuring his hamstring. It's probably for the best, after he went just 1-of-9 from the floor and ended the night with four points and seven rebounds. Considering how well he's been plying of late, hopefully this injury won't keep him out much longer.
• Wizards owner Abe Polin died yesterday at the age of 85. I suppose the story-line here is that after Gilbert Anrenas and Brandon Haywood "exchanged words" through the press, the Wizards pulled together and defeated the 76ers 108-107. Antawn Jamison led the way with 32 points and 14 rebounds.
• Caron Butler sat out last night due to a sore ankle. He's day-to-day, so we'll take a look at his status going into the weekend.
• With Jeff Foster back in the starting lineup, Roy Hibbert came off the bench for just 13 minutes scoring eight points and grabbing three rebounds. The good news is that it seems as if Hibbert will be in the starting lineup on Wednesday night against the Clippers. Jeff Foster should never be the reason why you bail on a player, so keep Hibbert in your lineup. I'm sure if you looked at Foster's fantasy team he probably started Hibbert last night.
• Chris Douglas-Roberts was not having any of it last night. Really, he was way off -- four points on 1-of-6 shooting, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 29 minutes. Uh-oh, could it be that the return of Courtney Lee has gotten to CDR? How about we consider this one a lost cause from the opening tip. The Nuggets came into this game having won 15 straight home games, while the Nets had no business at 0-13 heading into Denver and opening up their offense. Don't judge CDR on this one. If it becomes a trend, yeah, we can start worrying.
• Nate Robinson outplayed Larry Hughes once again last night. Robinson scored 15 points on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc, while Hughes had just six points and three steals in 22 minutes. Tough game to read, though, with the Lakers ending it early in the 3rd quarter. Robinson and Hughes both look like options right now, though I'm starting to lean toward Robinson. Lost and Found
• Samuel Dalembert picked up the slack last night with a 12-point, nine-rebound, four-block performance. It's hard to go wild over Sammy D, especially since he hadn't blocked a single shot in the three games prior. I give him props on the performance last night, but don't see this lasting.
• Troy Murphy had two blocks last night, marking the first time since October 30 that he blocked a shot. Considering that he's still working his way back from injury, you have to be pleased by his two swats.
• The Warriors were running like thieves, picking up 15 steals against the Mavs.
• Drew Gooden blocked three shots and went for 14 points and 12 rebounds against the Warriors. That's eight blocks over the last five games. Gooden is most certainly a universal add.
• Nene Hilario had five steals and a block, while his
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• Jason Smith showed a bit of what he could do against the Wizards -- 14 points, three rebounds, a three, a steal and and two blocks. Smith is a sweet-shooting big, and if Brand misses time he could play a bigger role in the 76ers offense.
• Nick Young got the start at the shooting guard with Mike Miller out for the month. Young was back to his old self, scoring a season-best 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting with two threes. We know that Young can score the ball, so this comes as no surprise. No much else in his fantasy game going on in the non-scoring categories, but he's a nice scoring option if he continues to get the burn. I initially thought that Randy Foye would get some minutes, but if Young continues to play at this level it might not be good news for Foye owners.
• Andray Blatche came off the bench for 14 points, five rebounds, a steal and a block in 27 minutes. Considering that the Wizards were without Caron Butler, this doesn't necessarily mean that Blatce is back. When both Butler and Jamison are healthy, Blatche is averaging just 16 minutes per game.
• Dahntay Jones came off the bench to play 27 minutes last night, scoring 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting and dishing four dimes. For the first time this season, Jones failed to record a rebound, block or steal in a game. He also didn't reach double-digit shot attempts for the first time since the second game of the season. I still think he has value. Don't bail on Jones just yet. Wait to see how he responds on Wednesday night before making the move to cut or bench him.
• Marco Belinelli returned to action after missing Sunday's game against the Magic with a groin injury. He looked fairly good, scoring 11 points with three assists, a three and a steal. Eight of his 11 points, however, came from the free-throw line. He's still worth keeping an eye on, though, as he can get hot from beyond the arc.
• Jarrett Jack was highly efficient last night -- 18 points on 7-of-7 shooting, 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, six assists, three rebounds, a steal and just one turnover in 29 minutes. As I said earlier, Jack is starting to come on strong and should be added in deep leagues.
• Courtney Lee, as we know, returned to action last night. He had just seven points but did record six steals. I picked him up before the game. I 'm pretty confident that Lee is going to be a fantasy factor going forward.
• I think we saw the real Serge Ibaka last night -- seven points, five rebounds, a block and a steal in 21 minutes. The one thing worth noting, though, is that he really has pushed Etan Thomas further down the bench. Hold off on both players.Tonight
• Nearly a full slate of games Wednesday, with 12 on the schedule. You'll have more than enough options to choose from.
• Check in on the status of both Elton Brand and Shawn Marion as we head closer to game time.
• Out for tonight are Shaquille O'Neal, Mike Dunleavy and Manu Ginobili.
• Michael Redd is once again active, but I'm not interested just yet.
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• The paperwork hasn't been officially filed, but Kobe Bryant owns the Knicks. He won the night with his 34 points on 14-of-20 shooting. Considering that this one was over early in the 3rd quarter, it was nice to see Kobe still on the court late into the 4th, tallying 40 minutes. He also chipped in with five rebounds, four assists, three steals and a three. Hard to compete with that 14-of-20 shooting performance, but what did you expect, seeing that Kobe has scored 30-plus points in 8-of-10 games against the Knicks. No moral victory for the Knicks in this one.
