Daily Notes for Wednesday: Alston stars for hot Rockets
| Time | Visitors | Opp. PPG | Opp. FGP | RPG Diff. | Home | Opp. PPG | Opp. FGP | RPG Diff. | |||
| 7 p.m. |  | Houston Rockets | 92.1 | .431 | +4.3 | @ |  | Atlanta Hawks | 99.1 | .459 | +.7 |
| 7 p.m. |  | Los Angeles Clippers | 99.6 | .463 | -3.3 | @ |  | Orlando Magic | 100.3 | .450 | +.8 |
| 7:30 p.m. |  | Seattle SuperSonics | 104.8 | .453 | +.9 | @ |  | Boston Celtics | 90.3 | .418 | +2.4 |
| 7:30 p.m. |  | Cleveland Cavaliers | 97.6 | .457 | +3.1 | @ |  | New Jersey Nets | 99.1 | .452 | +.9 |
| 7:30 p.m. |  | New York Knicks | 102.0 | .473 | -.2 | @ |  | Miami Heat | 101.5 | .472 | -4.2 |
| 7:30 p.m. |  | Philadelphia 76ers | 95.6 | .458 | +3.2 | @ |  | Detroit Pistons | 90.7 | .437 | +1.6 |
| 8 p.m. |  | Utah Jazz | 100.0 | .458 | +2.7 | @ |  | Milwaukee Bucks | 102.5 | .475 | +0.0 |
| 8 p.m. |  | San Antonio Spurs | 91.1 | .448 | +1.5 | @ |  | New Orleans Hornets | 95.3 | .458 | +1.4 |
| 8:30 p.m. |  | Charlotte Bobcats | 100.9 | .468 | -2.5 | @ |  | Dallas Mavericks | 95.8 | .447 | +3.1 |
| 9 p.m. |  | Memphis Grizzlies | 105.8 | .480 | -3.0 | @ |  | Denver Nuggets | 105.1 | .451 | -.9 |
| 10:30 p.m. |  | Toronto Raptors | 96.4 | .454 | -1.5 | @ |  | Golden State Warriors | 107.6 | .463 | -4.9 |
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
Chris Bosh, PF/C, Raptors (knee)
Eddy Curry, C, Knicks (knee)
Dwyane Wade, PG/SG, Heat (knee)
Day-to-day
Marcus Banks, PG, Heat (hamstring)
Vince Carter, SG/SF, Nets (personal)
Jamal Crawford, PG/SG, Knicks (hand)
Udonis Haslem, PF, Heat (ankle)
Yi Jianlian, SF/PF, Bucks (wrist/ankle)
Andrei Kirilenko, PF, Jazz (hip)
Brevin Knight, PG, Clippers (neck)
Carl Landry, SF, Rockets (knee)
Kenyon Martin, PF, Nuggets (concussion)
Jameer Nelson, PG, Magic (foot)
Zach Randolph, PF, Knicks (foot)
Gerald Wallace, SG/SF, Bobcats (concussion)
Rasheed Wallace, PF/C, Pistons (ankle)
Bonzi Wells, SG, Hornets (Achilles)
David West, PF, Hornets (ankle)
Mo Williams, PG, Bucks (abdominal)
If you haven't been paying attention to the Rockets' current winning streak, you might be unaware that Rafer Alston has looked like one of the best point guards in the league over the past few weeks. He had a streak of three straight 20-point games that ended Monday, and over his past five games he's averaging 18.6 points, 4.8 assists and 1.6 steals on 50.7 percent shooting from the floor. He also has thrown in 12 3-pointers over that stretch. He's got a decent matchup against the Hawks' Mike Bibby on Wednesday night, so I'd expect to see the big numbers continue. ... You always know to start LeBron James, but against the Nets, his counterpart, Richard Jefferson, has been just as impressive as LBJ this season. Jefferson is averaging 30 points on 53 percent shooting against the Cavs this season, including a combined 27 free-throw attempts in the two games. I don't expect the Nets to win this game, but Jefferson should be productive once again. ... Monta Ellis continues to light it up for the Warriors, averaging 21.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.2 steals over his past five games. He's shooting a ridiculous 55 percent from the floor and playing 41.2 minutes over that stretch as well. He should be able to keep it up against Toronto, as the Raptors don't really have an ideal player to guard Ellis. And with Chris Bosh still out of the lineup, they don't have anyone to protect the rim either. ... Finally, expect a huge, huge game out of Utah's Deron Williams against the Bucks. Mo Williams will be defending even worse than he usually does because of an abdominal strain, and as it is Williams went for 33 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and four steals the last time the two teams met. Expect a similarly huge game Wednesday night.
You were already planning on starting most of your fantasy Celtics against the Sonics, but perhaps you didn't know that the C's were 9-for-19 on 3s in their previous meeting with the Sonics this season. That's no fluke, either; Seattle is one of the worst teams in the league at defending the 3, allowing teams to shoot almost 38 percent from long range for the season. For that reason, in addition to the usual suspects, you may want to give James Posey a look. He was productive in Seattle, scoring 10 points including two 3s, and he always has the potential to throw in a steal or a block here and there. ... Ricky Davis is still available in some leagues, and he's worth picking up now that we've received the news that Dwyane Wade is out for the rest of the season. There's some big game potential for Ricky against the Knicks, and if you can get him into your lineup, you should. ... Back in January, the Grizzlies' Darko Milicic had one of the best games of his career against the Nuggets, putting up 14 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks. His counterpart on the Nuggets, Marcus Camby, had a similarly great game, but in fantasy, we don't care what our guy's opponent does. If you need a cheap source of blocks, give Darko a look for Wednesday. ... Over his past five games, the Bobcats' Matt Carroll is averaging 17.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 3.2 3s. In one game, he hit four 3s against the Celtics' staunch perimeter defense. Keep an eye on Gerald Wallace's status for Wednesday night, and if he isn't able to go, make sure you get Carroll into your lineup.
Seth Landman is a fantasy basketball analyst for ESPN.com
