NBA Blogcast: Thursday Production Notes

Written by

Kyle McKeown

Published on November 14, 2012

Blogcast notes by Kyle McKeown (@RotoWireKyleNBA) and James Anderson @RealJRAnderson.

If you'd like to listen to the actual podcast, you can use the RSS feed or just copy and paste the link below.

RSS feed: https://www.rotowire.com/podcast/roto|UNDER|podcast.asp

Before we get too deep into all the specifics of the games, we're going to go through . . .

Top News of the Day

Injuries

Steve Nash (leg) expected to miss another week or two.
Danilo Gallinari (sore knee) sat out practice Wednesday, but he's expected to play Thursday against the Heat.
Al Horford (illness) missed Wednesday's game, but is expected back soon.
Brandon Roy (knee) continues to have his return pushed back, he didn't play Wednesday.
Rodney Stuckey missed Wednesday's game with flu-like symptoms, Kyle Singler started in his place.
Tyler Zeller (concussion) could return as soon as Saturday, and Byron Scott sounds pretty thrilled to have him nearing a return.
Gerald Wallace (ankle) practiced Wednesday, and is 50-50 for Thursday's game.
MarShon Brooks (ankle) is probable for Thursday's game.
Steve Blake (abdominal strain) is unsure when he will return to action, meaning Kobe Bryant's assist totals could continue to be inflated in the short term with Steve Nash's return continuing to be pushed back. In deep leagues, Darius Morris has some short term value, though he hasn't looked great when he's been out there, and late in games the Lakers appear to favor a lineup where Kobe is the lone guard.
Nikola Pekovic (ankle) didn't play Wednesday, consider him day-to-day.
JJ Barea (foot) also didn't play Wednesday, but he's nearing a return.
Hedo Turkoglu (hand) will miss an additional month after having his hand re-cast.
Aaron Brooks (ankle) said he doesn't expect to miss any more time after having to leave Tuesday's game in the first half.
Devin Harris sat out Wednesday's game with a hamstring injury and a bout with the flu.
Ben Gordon (personal) missed his second game in a row Wednesday.
Kevin Love (hand) is targeting an early-December return. He will have his broken hand X-rayed on Tuesday and the results will be sent to a specialist.

Game Notes and Other Rigamarole

Isaiah Thomas (personal) will rejoin the Kings Thursday after missing Tuesday's tilt.
Royce White can be dropped in almost all formats. He continues to clash with the team and has failed to report to practice and a game over the weekend and will be fined by the team every day remains away and/or fails to meet with his therapist.
Donatas Motiejunas, a guy we talked about a bit in the preseason, was assigned to the D-League Wednesday.

Pistons vs Sixers

Corey Maggette made his debut, he had nine points, missing just one shot in 22 minutes.
Kyle Singler started for Rodney Stuckey (flu), he played 40 minutes, shot 50 percent, and ended up with 16 points and four rebounds to go with a block and a three-pointer.
Greg Monroe had 19 points and 18 boards to go with six dimes in 40 minutes.
Everyone on the Sixers played horribly except LaVoy Allen, who had 14 points on 60 percent shooting to go with six boards, a block, and a steal off the bench.
Kwame Brown started at center for the Sixers. He missed their last four games with a strained calf. Brown played only 12 minutes.
Dorell Wright had to leave the game briefly to get stitches in his chin, but he returned to play 20 minutes off the bench.

Jazz vs Celtics

Rajon Rondo rolled his ankle in the first half, but he returned to the game. He could experience swelling, but we would expect him to play in the Celtics' next game on Thursday.
Jeff Green finally had the kind of night he had been displaying in the preseason, 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including seven attempts from the free-throw line, but he's been too inconsistent so far to grab in standard leagues based off just this game, keep him on your watch list.
Jason Terry is owned in 77 percent of Yahoo! leagues and had a horrible night Wednesday - three points, he attempted just one shot in 22 minutes - are you dropping him in standard leagues?

Pacers vs Bucks

This game was a blowout, so the Pacers emptied their bench and all of their starters had poor numbers, so just throw it out.
Ersan Ilyasova had another rough game, he shot 2-for-9 in 22 minutes with four boards and has now gone six straight games without tallying more than seven rebounds, which was his best trait last season. Is he the biggest bust in fantasy so far this year? And what would you do if you owned him?

Hornets vs Rockets

Greivis Vasquez scored a career-high 24 points to go with five rebounds and nine assists in 34 minutes.
Omer Asik

Grizzlies vs Thunder

Wayne Ellington played just 11 minutes and had six points as his follow-up to the 25-point outburst he had on Sunday. Quincy Pondexter and Jerryd Bayless did the damage off the bench Wednesday, and Lionel Hollins said before the game that he is just looking for one of those guys to step up each night, so it's going to be hard to bank on consistent production from any of them.
There's a narrative going around that Russell Westbrook is having a down season, but anyone selling that story is simply trying to manufacture drama where none exists. Westbrook is averaging a career-high in three-pointers, distributing two more assists than he did last season, and turning the ball over less.
Kevin Martin had an odd game. He finished with just seven points on 1-of-4 shooting. Martin still played 33 minutes, but the lack of shots shows us his floor on this Thunder team.
Kevin Durant scored 34 points. This was the first time all season that he finished with over 30 points. Durant is currently taking three less shots per game, hitting only 0.9 three-pointers, and scoring four less points per game this season on a whole.

Bobcats vs Timberwolves

Greg Stiemsma started for Nikola Pekovic and had seven boards and two blocks, but was 0-for-6 from the field in 22 minutes.
Luke Ridnour had another solid game with the Timberwolves' backcourt shorthanded, 16 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and two steals. He is owned in just 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
AK47 has three-straight double-doubles with big production in the defensive categories. He had 26 points on 9-12 shooting, 3-3 from downtown with 12 boards, two blocks and a steal. How do you see his production being impacted when Kevin Love returns next month?
Ramon Sessions had a big night in Ben Gordon's absence, 18 points, six boards, four assists and two steals in 32 minutes off the bench.

Wizards vs Mavs

Dahntay Jones started for Shawn Marion (knee) and played just 15 minutes.
Jae Crowder came off the bench and had a solid night, 12 points, two steals, two rebounds and three assists in 21 minutes.
Chris Kaman started and played well (23 points, eight rebounds) while Brandan Wright was a healthy scratch.
Kevin Seraphin played just 22 minutes, but had excellent numbers, 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting, five boards, five assists, one steal and one block.

Bulls vs Suns

Kirk Hinrich (hip) started and played 27 minutes with seven dimes, five boards and two steals, so he appears to be back. Nate Robinson also saw big minutes off the bench, 26 minutes, 11 points and four assists, so it could be a time share in Chicago at point guard.
Carlos Boozer had 28 points and 14 boards, but this game went into overtime and that line could easily

Heat vs Clippers

We just gabbed this game out on the podcast.

Hawks vs Warriors

We just gabbed this game out on the podcast.

I think that wraps us up here. If you would like to get in touch with us, you can e-mail us at NBApodcast@rotowire.com.