Daily Notes for Saturday: J.R. Smith faces friendly D
| Time | Visitors | Opp. PPG | Opp. FGP | RPG Diff. | Home | Opp. PPG | Opp. FGP | RPG Diff. | |||
| 7:30 p.m. |  | Cleveland Cavaliers | 97.4 | .455 | +3.9 | @ |  | Detroit Pistons | 91.0 | .441 | +1.8 |
| 7:30 p.m. |  | Phoenix Suns | 105.3 | .456 | -3.5 | @ |  | New Jersey Nets | 100.1 | .453 | +1.0 |
| 8:30 p.m. |  | Milwaukee Bucks | 102.5 | .475 | +0.6 | @ |  | Chicago Bulls | 99.6 | .449 | +1.1 |
| 9:00 p.m. |  | Golden State Warriors | 108.2 | .464 | -4.4 | @ |  | Denver Nuggets | 105.6 | .455 | -1.2 |
| 10:00 p.m. |  | Charlotte Bobcats | 100.9 | .467 | -2.8 | @ |  | Portland Trail Blazers | 96.2 | .448 | -1.3 |
| 10:30 p.m. |  | Memphis Grizzlies | 106.1 | .478 | -2.7 | @ |  | Los Angeles Clippers | 100.4 | .465 | -3.8 |
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
Charlie Bell, PG/SG, Bucks (knee)
Elton Brand, PF, Clippers (Achilles)
Brandon Roy, SG, Trail Blazers (groin)
Day-to-day
Mickael Pietrus, SG/SF, Warriors (groin)
Quinton Ross, SG/SF, Clippers (foot)
The Nuggets and Warriors are poised for a shootout in the Mile High City, and the total score of Saturday's matchup should be well over 200 points. All players on both teams get a slight upgrade tonight as there will be plenty of stats to go around. J.R. Smith should have an impressive night off the bench and it's safe to expect 20-plus points and a handful of 3s from him. … Richard Hamilton sat Thursday to rest his sore hip for the third straight game, but is expected to return against the Cavs Saturday. Get him back in your lineup, although expect his minutes to be monitored in his return contest. The same is the case with Ben Wallace, who rested his back Wednesday but should be good to go against his former team. Daniel Gibson is also set to return. … With Brandon Roy sidelined, Jarrett Jack and Steve Blake shared the starting backcourt Thursday night, which was successful in a statistical sense. Jack played 41 minutes and scored 19 points with two 3s on 7-for-13 shooting, while Blake went off for 22 points with 6 assists and 4 3s on 8-for-12 shooting. Even though they typically compete for minutes, Blake's and Jack's styles complement each other well, with Jack being more of a scorer and Blake a distributor and 3-point shooter. Both had limited value with Roy doing much of the ballhandling and being the focus of the backcourt offense, but with their star player out, both become much more attractive options until he returns. … Matt Carroll is coming off the bench but still has value if you need 3s. He continues to bomb away and is averaging 25 minutes per game in his past four contests, all as the sixth man. … Chris Kaman returned Wednesday night after missing nine games with a bad back. He had 16 points but just five rebounds, and even though it'll take a few games for him to get his legs back, he should be back in your lineup immediately.
Kelenna Azubuike was successful off the bench with Mickael Pietrus injured Thursday night, posting 14 points, five rebounds, a 3-pointer and a block, which followed his 18 points and seven rebounds from Monday night. His value will remain higher with Pietrus resting his groin, however once he returns, Azubuike's value will diminish once again, primarily due to decreased opportunity. … Arron Afflalo has started in Rip Hamilton's aforementioned absence, and scored 15 points with 7 rebounds, 2 steals and a block in 33 minutes Thursday night. He'll put up a fight against Rodney Stuckey next season as they duke it out for backup guard minutes, and Stuckey outperformed Afflalo coming off the bench in the first two games Rip missed. Either way, Hamilton should return Saturday, so temper your expectations compared to the previous contests with regard to both Afflalo and Stuckey. … Gordan Giricek has been playing big minutes with the Suns, and even though he's one of my least favorite players, he has value playing in the Suns' up-tempo offense. Playing with Steve Nash is the NBA equivalent of a hitter playing in Coors Field, and Giricek has become a worthy start in deep formats. … Chucky Atkins' brief stint of value is over, as he's getting minimal minutes with the Nuggets. Drop him now. … The Grizzlies-Clippers contest has similar offensive potential as the Nuggets-Warriors game due to both teams' propensity to allow teams to score, but it promises to be a far less enjoyable game to watch. Hakim Warrick is coming off a 26-point effort Wednesday night, in which he also added 8 rebounds, 2 3-pointers and 2 steals. Also in that game, Kyle Lowry once again outperformed Mike Conley. Both Warrick and Lowry are worth a start tonight against the unimpressive Clippers, as is Javaris Crittenton to a lesser extent. The Grizzlies' other rookie guard had 13 points, nine rebounds, a steal and a 3, his second straight double-digit effort. … Smush Parker has resurfaced with the Clippers, and is once again providing 3s (or at least trying to) and steals, with little else and terrible percentages. If that addresses your needs, go for it, but I've never been a huge fan of Parker in the fantasy sense due to his inefficiency.
Josh Whitling is a fantasy basketball analyst for ESPN.com.
