Beast of the Night: Dwight Howard finished with 29 points, 18 rebounds and three blocks against the Bulls last night. He shot 58 percent (11-19) from the field and 70 percent (7-10) from the charity stripe, and had four turnovers. If you take free-throw percentage out of the equation, Howard is the No. 2 fantasy basketball player this NBA season.
Lines for Discussion:
Joakim Noah: 3-7 FG (43%), 3-4 FT (75%), 9 Pts, 10 Reb, 2 Ast, 3 Stl, 3 Blk; In his last nine games, Noah has averaged 10.9 points, 13.2 ‘bounds, 3.6 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.2 blocks, while shooting 53 percent from the field and 71 percent from the free-throw line. Those are top 25 numbers.
Hedo Turkoglu: 3-10 FG (30%), 5-5 FT (100%), 2 threes, 13 Pts, 6 Reb, 6 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 TO; In his last three games, Turkoglu has hit just five of his 26 attempts from the floor — that’s 19 percent accuracy.
Jared Dudley: 7-12 FG (58%), 2-4 FT (50%), 2 threes, 18 Pts, 8 Reb, 3 Blk, 1 TO; In his last six games, Dudley has averaged 16.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.8 blocks and 1.2 threes. The only downer in that stretch is his 62 percent accuracy from the free-throw line.
Waiver-Wire Watch:
J.J. Redick: 9 Pts, 1 three, 1 Reb, 1 Ast; If Jason Richardson misses an extended period of time, Redick will be worth a look. In nine starts this season, Redick has averaged 13.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.7 threes per game.
Injuries:
Richard Hamilton (shoulder): day-to-day
Brendan Haywood (ankle): day-to-day
Charlie Villanueva (ankle): he should be ready to play tonight
Goran Dragic (foot): underwent X-rays on his left foot; monitor his status
Kyle Lowry (groin): underwent an MRI on his groin muscle; monitor his status
Stephen Jackson (hamstring): no timetable for his return
Mehmet Okur (back): ditto
Spencer Hawes (Achilles): plans on increasing his on-court activity this week-to-week
T.J. Ford (neck): doubtful for tonight
Elliot Williams (shoulder): out at least two games
DeMarcus Cousins (food poisoning): will be ready for tonight
Jason Richardson (ankle): monitor his status
For Tonight:
See if Ricky Rubio can bust out of his slump, as the Timberwolves host the Lakers.
Deron Williams visits his favorite team in the NBA: the Charlotte Bobcats.
For Next Week:
5 games: LAC, PHO, UTA, WAS
4 games: ATL, BOS, CHA, CHI, DET, GSW, HOU, IND, LAL, MIA, MIN, NJN, NOR, NYK, OKC, ORL, POR, SAC, SAS, TOR
3 games: CLE, DAL, DEN, MEM, MIL, PHI
Throughout the season, be sure to leave your questions, comments, concerns, trade offers, roster problems and more in the comments below.
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