Daily Notes for Wednesday: Boone a good pickup
| Time | Visitors | Opp. PPG | Opp. FGP | RPG Diff. | Home | Opp. PPG | Opp. FGP | RPG Diff. | |||
| 7:00 p.m. |  | Philadelphia 76ers | 95.7 | .457 | +2.6 | @ |  | Toronto Raptors | 95.2 | .449 | -1.8 |
| 7:00 p.m. |  | Cleveland Cavaliers | 98.6 | .462 | +2.0 | @ |  | Atlanta Hawks | 96.2 | .455 | -0.1 |
| 7:30 p.m. |  | Charlotte Bobcats | 98.9 | .465 | -2.9 | @ |  | Boston Celtics | 87.3 | .414 | +4.2 |
| 7:30 p.m. |  | Seattle SuperSonics | 104.5 | .448 | +0.5 | @ |  | New Jersey Nets | 97.5 | .450 | +1.7 |
| 7:30 p.m. |  | Houston Rockets | 94.0 | .438 | +2.5 | @ |  | New York Knicks | 102.0 | .482 | +1.6 |
| 8:00 p.m. |  | Miami Heat | 99.4 | .458 | -2.6 | @ |  | Milwaukee Bucks | 100.8 | .473 | +1.2 |
| 8:00 p.m. |  | Los Angeles Lakers | 101.4 | .439 | +2.2 | @ |  | New Orleans Hornets | 93.5 | .450 | +0.9 |
| 9:00 p.m. |  | Detroit Pistons | 89.3 | .432 | +1.0 | @ |  | Dallas Mavericks | 96.6 | .449 | +1.6 |
| 9:00 p.m. |  | Indiana Pacers | 103.8 | .441 | -0.1 | @ |  | Phoenix Suns | 104.2 | .453 | -5.5 |
| 10:00 p.m. |  | Golden State Warriors | 107.2 | .458 | -5.3 | @ |  | Portland Trail Blazers | 95.7 | .445 | -1.9 |
| 10:30 p.m. |  | Orlando Magic | 100.0 | .443 | 0.0 | @ |  | Los Angeles Clippers | 97.4 | .446 | -2.8 |
All times are expressed in Eastern time.
Key: Opp. PPG = Points per game allowed to opponents. Opp. FGP = Field goal percentage allowed to opponents. RPG Diff. = The difference between team's rebounds per game and its opponents' rebounds per game.
Out
Tracy McGrady, SG/SF, Rockets (knee)
Day-to-day
Malik Allen, PF, Nets (back)
Renaldo Balkman, SF, Knicks (flu-like symptoms)
Raja Bell, SG, Suns (flu-like symptoms)
Keith Bogans, SG, Magic (ankle)
Erick Dampier, C, Mavericks (knee)
Brevin Knight, PG, Clippers (fibula)
Richard Jefferson, SF, Nets (knee)
Jamaal Magloire, C, Nets (personal)
Shaquille O'Neal, C, Heat (hip)
Vladimir Radmanovic, SF, Lakers (ankle)
Michael Redd, SG, Bucks (thigh)
Quentin Richardson, SG/SF, Knicks (thigh)
Brandon Roy, SG, Trail Blazers (tailbone)
Jerry Stackhouse, SG, Mavericks (thumb)
Kurt Thomas, PF/C, SuperSonics (knee)
Tim Thomas, SF/PF, Clippers (knee)
Jamaal Tinsley, PG, Pacers (hamstring)
Sasha Vujacic, PG/SG, Lakers (ankle)
David West, PF, Hornets (hip)
Chris Wilcox, PF, SuperSonics (pinkie finger)
Dorell Wright, SG/SF, Heat (ankle)
Philadelphia versus Toronto should be a good matchup for the point guards, Andre Miller and Jose Calderon, as Miller is a bit too slow to stay with Calderon, and Calderon is a bit too small to defend Miller in the paint. I'd expect each will have a better-than-typical night. … The Knicks are allowing teams to shoot 37 percent from behind the 3-point line so far this season, and Houston is going to take a lot of 3s. Consequently, Rafer Alston, Shane Battier and Luther Head are all worth starting, especially in the absence of Tracy McGrady. The Knicks will have to double Yao Ming in the post because neither Eddy Curry nor Zach Randolph will be able to defend him, and that should leave all of Houston's shooters even more open than usual. … It should be a long night for the Hornets' Morris Peterson, who is his team's only decent option for defending the Lakers' Kobe Bryant. I'd sit him, and expect Peja Stojakovic to carry a little more of the load than usual on the perimeter and in rebounding. … I like Jermaine O'Neal's matchup with Amare Stoudemire a lot, as Stoudemire's defense has been horrible all season. If O'Neal can run the floor effectively, I think he'll have a big night in points, rebounds and blocks as well. … In the matchup between the Magic and the Clippers, I'm expecting Dwight Howard to get the better of Chris Kaman and for Kaman to get into some foul trouble. Kaman should be able to put up some points and rebounds, but those may be accompanied by a bad shooting percentage and lots of turnovers, so depending on what stats you are looking for, he might be worth benching in this one.
It appears Louis Williams will be the beneficiary of Kyle Korver's being traded away from the Sixers; during his past five games, he's averaging 14 points and almost two steals, and he has a favorable matchup against both Calderon and Juan Dixon versus the Raptors. … Tony Allen has settled into a nice role for the Celtics recently, averaging 11 points and almost two steals in 22 minutes per game during his past five. In that same stretch, he's shooting 50 percent from the floor and 87 percent from the line. Taking into account Ray Allen's recent struggles (9-for-32 from the floor in his past three games), it's not unreasonable to think Tony's minutes will creep up closer to 30 per game during the next month or so, especially as his knee gets healthier and the team experiments more and more with him as a backup at the point. If you need steals, he's worth picking up right now, and he looks like a pretty good keeper candidate going forward. … Nets center Josh Boone is averaging 10 points and 8 rebounds on 53 percent shooting from the floor in his nine games as a starter. His 35 percent free-throw shooting will kill you, but if you can take the hit there, he's a good play against Seattle's decimated front line. … With McGrady out for another game or two, the Rockets' Bonzi Wells is still definitely worth picking up for a short-term boost, especially for Wednesday night's game against the Knicks. The Knicks are banged up at small forward, with both Quentin Richardson and Renaldo Balkman nursing injuries, and they don't really defend any position all that well in the first place.
Seth Landman is a fantasy basketball analyst for ESPN.com.
