Daily Notes for Thursday: Defenses should rule on Christmas
| Time | Visitors | Opp. PPG | Opp. FGP | RPG Diff. | Home | Opp. PPG | Opp. FGP | RPG Diff. | |||
| 12:00 p.m. |  | New Orleans Hornets | 91.8 | .453 | +1.0 | @ |  | Orlando Magic | 94.6 | .429 | -2.1 |
| 2:30 p.m. |  | San Antonio Spurs | 93.4 | .452 | +0.8 | @ |  | Phoenix Suns | 102.9 | .454 | +0.1 |
| 5:00 p.m. |  | Boston Celtics | 91.4 | .420 | +5.7 | @ |  | Los Angeles Lakers | 97.5 | .437 | +3.6 |
| 8:00 p.m. |  | Washington Wizards | 102.5 | .479 | -2.8 | @ |  | Cleveland Cavaliers | 89.3 | .421 | +5.0 |
| 10:30 p.m. |  | Dallas Mavericks | 97.8 | .434 | +2.1 | @ |  | Portland Trail Blazers | 95.3 | .461 | +5.1 |
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:
Noon: Hornets-Magic
All times Eastern
Out
Gilbert Arenas, PG, Wizards (knee)
Jordan Farmar, PG, Lakers (knee)
Brendan Haywood, C, Wizards (wrist)
Fabricio Oberto, C, Spurs (foot)
Eric Snow, PG, Cavaliers (knee)
Jerry Stackhouse, SF, Mavericks (heel)
Alando Tucker, SF, Suns (knee)
Martell Webster, SF, Trail Blazers (foot)
Mike Wilks, PG, Magic (knee)
Day-to-day
Antonio Daniels, PG, Hornets (knee)
Glen Davis, PF, Celtics (concussion)
Peja Stojakovic, SF, Hornets (back)
Listen on ESPN Radio
You can listen to the following games on ESPN Radio or streamed on ESPNRadio.com:
4:35 p.m.: Celtics-Lakers
All times Eastern
It's a great day to watch basketball, and an easy day to manage your fantasy team. With the five-game Christmas Day slate, daily leaguers have few, if any, lineup calls to make. And with the marquee matchups, chances are one or more of your top players will be in action. That said, it might be wise to temper your expectations, because your fantasy studs will be facing some of the NBA's top defenses. The day's 10 active teams include the top four teams in scoring defense (Cavaliers, Celtics, Hornets and Spurs); the top three teams in rebound differential (Celtics, Trail Blazers, Cavaliers); and the three teams that allow the lowest opponents' shooting percentage (Celtics, Cavaliers, Magic). … The bad news: Manu Ginobili limped to the sideline on his surgically repaired left ankle Tuesday. The good news: He returned after a couple of minutes. You'll want to check for updates on his status. … Peja Stojakovic has missed the Hornets' past two games with back problems, and remains day-to-day. If he isn't ready for the Magic, there is a bright side: Orlando allows a league-low 5.1 3-pointers per game.
By targeting useful free agents, alert owners can give themselves a present whenever there's a light schedule. Thursday, especially, is a good day to pick up some 3s. Wizards, Lakers and Suns opponents all swish at least 7.3 treys per game, while Trail Blazers, Suns and Hornets opponents all shoot at least 37.0 percent from beyond the arc. With that in mind, you should key in on Daniel Gibson against the Wizards. Active for the first time in five games, Gibson drained three 3s on Tuesday versus the Thunder. Other possibilities include Eddie House versus the Lakers and Roger Mason versus the Suns. … With Greg Oden's learning curve more frown-shaped at the moment, Joel Przybilla is playing around 30 minutes a night and averaging 11.8 rebounds over his past four games. … And because of their reliance on "true" centers, the Blazers should be a good matchup for Erick Dampier, who's rolling along at 10.2 boards and 1.8 rejections over his past five.
Neil Tardy is a fantasy basketball analyst for ESPN.com.
