Daily Notes for Friday: Horford will bounce back versus Knicks
| Time | Visitors | Opp. PPG | Opp. FGP | RPG Diff. | Home | Opp. PPG | Opp. FGP | RPG Diff. | |||
| 7:00 p.m. |  | Oklahoma City Thunder | 102.7 | .477 | -2.7 | @ |  | Orlando Magic | 94.6 | .433 | -1.4 |
| 7:00 p.m. |  | Los Angeles Lakers | 95.9 | .432 | +5.1 | @ |  | Washington Wizards | 101.9 | .471 | -3.0 |
| 7:30 p.m. |  | New York Knicks | 109.0 | .484 | -6.9 | @ |  | Atlanta Hawks | 97.0 | .448 | -.1 |
| 7:30 p.m. |  | Indiana Pacers | 101.5 | .439 | +.7 | @ |  | Cleveland Cavaliers | 92.1 | .418 | +5.5 |
| 7:30 p.m. |  | Minnesota Timberwolves | 100.4 | .467 | +.2 | @ |  | New Jersey Nets | 104.5 | .464 | -.1 |
| 8:00 p.m. |  | Portland Trail Blazers | 93.2 | .459 | +5.2 | @ |  | Boston Celtics | 90.3 | .410 | +3.7 |
| 8:00 p.m. |  | Philadelphia 76ers | 95.4 | .454 | +5.2 | @ |  | Detroit Pistons | 95.4 | .458 | -.2 |
| 8:00 p.m. |  | Los Angeles Clippers | 100.7 | .454 | -4.3 | @ |  | Memphis Grizzlies | 100.5 | .465 | -2.2 |
| 8:30 p.m. |  | Golden State Warriors | 110.3 | .465 | -4.7 | @ |  | Houston Rockets | 91.2 | .432 | +1.3 |
| 8:30 p.m. |  | Charlotte Bobcats | 92.5 | .453 | -1.4 | @ |  | Milwaukee Bucks | 97.0 | .445 | +4.5 |
| 10:30 p.m. |  | Toronto Raptors | 101.6 | .469 | -3.4 | @ |  | Utah Jazz | 96.1 | .455 | +3.2 |
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.
Watch on ESPN360.com
If you want to check out your players in action from your computer, you can watch the following games live on ESPN360.com:
• 8 p.m.: Blazers at Celtics
• 10:30 p.m.: Raptors at Jazz
All times Eastern.
Out
Carlos Boozer, PF, Jazz (quadriceps)
Ricky Davis, SG/SF, Clippers (knee)
Chris Kaman, C, Clippers (foot)
Jameer Nelson, PG, Magic (hip)
Mickael Pietrus, SG/SF, Magic (thumb)
Josh Smith, SF/PF, Hawks (ankle)
Day-to-day
Tony Allen, SG, Celtics (ankle)
Kelenna Azubuike, SG/SF, Warriors (foot)
Andrew Bogut, C, Bucks (knee)
Andrei Kirilenko, SF/PF, Jazz (ankle)
Corey Maggette, SG/SF, Warriors (ankle)
Nate Robinson, PG/SG, Knicks (groin)
People who feel that Al Horford has been a disappointment so far this season really need to take a look at his stats. He has improved his all-around game, as his assist rate has gone up significantly while his turnover rate has fallen. So, while he's averaging fewer rebounds than he did last season, he's averaging slightly more points, and his 2.8 assists per game is a huge number for a center. Even better, he has continued to average almost a steal per game and has nearly doubled his blocks to 1.7 per game. He is averaging only slightly more than 32 minutes per game, but that number is going to go up to around 37 or so -- he missed almost two full games in the middle of November but has played 37 minutes in each of his past three games. At the very least, make sure you start him against the Knicks on Friday night. … The Raptors like to shoot the 3, and they are good at it, having hit 40 percent of them this season. Meanwhile, the Jazz are allowing teams to shoot an unforgivable 38 percent from downtown, on average. What this means is that you want to start Toronto's Andrea Bargnani and Anthony Parker against those Jazz on Friday night. … Once again, the Cavs allowed an opposing point guard to put up abnormally good numbers in a 118-82 win over the Knicks on Wednesday. But it wasn't Knicks starter Chris Duhon. Instead, Anthony Roberson torched them off the bench for 19 points, to go along with four assists, three steals and five treys in the blowout loss. All considered, T.J. Ford looks like a pretty good option against the Cavs.
Only because the Oklahoma City defense is terrible, you might want to pick up and start Magic shooting guard Courtney Lee. This rookie has been largely uninspiring in the early part of the season, but he had his first good game Wednesday against the Timberwolves (34 minutes off the bench, 19 points, three 3-pointers, three steals) and could be embarking on a little hot streak. Having said that, I'm not high on his long-term prospects, and once Mickael Pietrus and Jameer Nelson are back from injury, Lee will be fantasy-irrelevant. … Going back to the Raptors versus Jazz 3-point stats mentioned above, if you are really desperate for 3s, you might want to look at Jason Kapono. He's risky, of course, because even though he's a knock-down shooter (he has averaged right around 50 percent on 3s for the past three seasons), he usually doesn't shoot it enough to be good for fantasy. One would think that whatever changes there are in Toronto now that Sam Mitchell is out as the coach, they would involve Kapono jacking up trey-bombs whenever he is in the game, especially against Utah and other teams who don't defend the perimeter well. Then again, one can never be sure. Like I said, he's worth a try only if you are desperate, but he did score double figures recently in back-to-back games against the Hawks and Lakers. … With T-Mac down for a couple of weeks, I'd pick up Aaron Brooks as a decent source for points, 3s and maybe even assists. He and Luther Head each played 20 minutes against the Clippers on Wednesday, and it might be that they make each other irrelevant for now. Head, in fact, got the starts when T-Mac was out, and Shane Battier was coming off the bench. The situation bears watching, but Brooks is the player I like more. They are both decent options while T-Mac is out if you really need scoring.
Seth Landman is a fantasy basketball analyst for ESPN.com.
