Daily Notes for Wednesday: Horford can crown Kings
| Time | Visitors | Opp. PPG | Opp. FGP | RPG Diff. | Home | Opp. PPG | Opp. FGP | RPG Diff. | |||
| 7 p.m. |  | Minnesota Timberwolves | 100.7 | .463 | +.1 | @ |  | Toronto Raptors | 95.6 | .450 | -1.5 |
| 7 p.m. |  | Orlando Magic | 100.7 | .452 | +.7 | @ |  | Philadelphia 76ers | 95.3 | .457 | +3.1 |
| 7 p.m. |  | Sacramento Kings | 102.6 | .461 | -1.3 | @ |  | Atlanta Hawks | 97.2 | .455 | +.9 |
| 7 p.m. |  | Chicago Bulls | 98.5 | .450 | +1.3 | @ |  | Indiana Pacers | 105.0 | .452 | -1.5 |
| 7:30 p.m. |  | Cleveland Cavaliers | 98.1 | .459 | +3.3 | @ |  | Boston Celtics | 90.5 | .425 | +1.9 |
| 7:30 p.m. |  | Charlotte Bobcats | 100.9 | .467 | -3.2 | @ |  | New York Knicks | 101.3 | .473 | +.5 |
| 8 p.m. |  | Phoenix Suns | 104.2 | .453 | -5.0 | @ |  | New Orleans Hornets | 94.8 | .456 | +1.6 |
| 9 p.m. |  | Detroit Pistons | 90.3 | .436 | +1.8 | @ |  | Utah Jazz | 99.7 | .459 | +2.2 |
| 10 p.m. |  | Denver Nuggets | 104.8 | .448 | -1.4 | @ |  | Seattle SuperSonics | 103.6 | .446 | +.9 |
| 10:30 p.m. |  | Portland Trail Blazers | 96.0 | .444 | -2.3 | @ |  | Los Angeles Clippers | 99.1 | .458 | -3.5 |
All times are ET.
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
Daniel Gibson, PG, Cavaliers (ankle)
Gerald Wallace, SG/SF, Bobcats (concussion)
Day-to-day
Sam Cassell, PG, Clippers (wrist)
Chris Kaman, C, Clippers (back)
Linas Kleiza, SF/PF, Nuggets (ankle)
Acie Law, PG, Hawks (wrist)
Brandon Roy, SG, Trail Blazers (ankle)
Anderson Varejao, PF/C, Cavaliers (ankle)
Earl Watson, PG, SuperSonics (illness)
Chris Wilcox, PF, SuperSonics (flu)
Damien Wilkins, SG/SF, SuperSonics (wrist)
Jose Calderon has what should be his most favorable matchup of the year against the Timberwolves, as Sebastian Telfair isn't enough of a defender to stay in front of Calderon, and Minnesota doesn't have anyone to guard Chris Bosh in the paint. Calderon should be able to get where he wants to go, then dump off to Bosh for easy buckets when Al Jefferson is forced to come over and help out. Expect a big game for Calderon with lots of assists and few turnovers. … I like the matchup for Hawks center Al Horford against the Kings. Sacramento's big men don't rebound very well, which means Horford should be able to own the glass. He had 12 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three blocks when the two teams met earlier this season, and that game was in Sacramento. Horford should have one of his best games of the season this time around. … Just about everyone in the Bulls rotation played somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes in Sunday's loss to the Rockets. In terms of fantasy, this means we have to do a bit of guess work. There are bargains to be had in Chicago, and I would bet that one or two extremely valuable fantasy players come out of this situation. For those of you relying on Ben Gordon for scoring, this situation is not a good one. He played only 26 minutes Sunday, and scored only five points during those minutes. However, he scored 25 points in 38 minutes Monday against Dallas, but just a word of warning since his playing time could be all over the place. … I won't insult you by telling you to start Chris Paul because I know you already know. I will just say that CP3 is averaging 30.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 9.7 assists and 4.3 steals against Steve Nash and the vaunted Suns defense this season in three games. With Shaq now clogging the lane for the Suns, Paul might have to kick out a little more this time around, so make sure you start Peja Stojakovic, even though the Suns have been pretty good guarding the perimeter this season.
Sixers rookie Thaddeus Young looks like a good start against the Magic this time around. He's averaging 11.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals over his past five games, and his only terrible game over that stretch was against -- you guessed it -- the Orlando Magic. I think Young play well this time, as he matches up pretty well with both Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu, and he scored 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting in an earlier meeting with the Magic this season. He's also a great keeper candidate for next year if you are starting to line your team up that way. … A lot of people have been picking up Cleveland's new point guard Delonte West since he was traded to the Cavs just minutes before the deadline. I've done some work to fuel that fire, as I believe he is a perfect fit for the Cavs. That said, I think he's got a very tough matchup against the Celtics on Wednesday night. Rajon Rondo is an expert at pressuring the ball full-court against point guards who aren't excellent at bringing the ball up the court. This is West's biggest weakness; he's a great shooter, a great passer and a great defender, but he's not the ideal guy for bringing the ball up the court. The Celtics also do a great job at taking away the 3-pointer, so West might not have much value at all in this game. Still, I think he's worth picking up to see how he does. He's going to be LeBron James' point guard at least until Daniel Gibson returns from injury in a few weeks, so if you need 3s and assists, he's worth stashing on your roster for good matchups. … Also in the desperate-for-assists category, you may want to take a look, just for one game, at Seattle's Luke Ridnour. With West now in Cleveland and Earl Watson dealing with some sort of illness, Ridnour might be the Sonics' only option for bringing the ball up against steal-happy Allen Iverson and the Nuggets. I'm not saying Ridnour will have a great game, but in head-to-head leagues, he might be a good one-game source of points and assists.
Seth Landman is a fantasy basketball analyst for ESPN.com
