Daily Notes for Wednesday: Emeka a strong start
| Time | Visitors | Opp. PPG | Opp. FGP | RPG Diff. | Home | Opp. PPG | Opp. FGP | RPG Diff. | |||
| 7:00 p.m. |  | Chicago Bulls | 95.6 | .449 | +2.0 | @ |  | Washington Wizards | 99.3 | .452 | +3.7 |
| 7:00 p.m. |  | Utah Jazz | 100.2 | .460 | +3.5 | @ |  | Charlotte Bobcats | 98.1 | .468 | -1.9 |
| 7:00 p.m. |  | Miami Heat | 97.8 | .450 | -1.5 | @ |  | Atlanta Hawks | 94.3 | .453 | -.9 |
| 7:00 p.m. |  | Philadelphia 76ers | 93.9 | .447 | +3.0 | @ |  | Indiana Pacers | 104.5 | .439 | +.4 |
| 7:00 p.m. |  | Detroit Pistons | 91.2 | .436 | +1.7 | @ |  | Boston Celtics | 86.5 | .413 | +4.0 |
| 7:30 p.m. |  | Cleveland Cavaliers | 101.0 | .461 | +.9 | @ |  | New York Knicks | 102.4 | .485 | +.5 |
| 8:00 p.m. |  | Sacramento Kings | 101.7 | .462 | -2.0 | @ |  | Milwaukee Bucks | 99.9 | .459 | +1.5 |
| 8:00 p.m. |  | San Antonio Spurs | 93.3 | .460 | +1.8 | @ |  | Memphis Grizzlies | 106.6 | .476 | -2.9 |
| 8:00 p.m. |  | Golden State Warriors | 107.4 | .464 | -4.6 | @ |  | Minnesota Timberwolves | 100.6 | .459 | +0.0 |
| 8:30 p.m. |  | Orlando Magic | 99.4 | .439 | -.2 | @ |  | Houston Rockets | 93.3 | .445 | +3.5 |
| 9:30 p.m. |  | Phoenix Suns | 104.2 | .463 | -5.6 | @ |  | Dallas Mavericks | 98.2 | .451 | +.8 |
| 10:00 p.m. |  | Toronto Raptors | 94.6 | .448 | -.7 | @ |  | Portland Trail Blazers | 97.0 | .447 | -3.7 |
| 10:00 p.m. |  | New Orleans Hornets | 94.2 | .448 | +.4 | @ |  | Seattle SuperSonics | 105.3 | .448 | -.6 |
All times are expressed in Eastern Time.
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
LaMarcus Aldridge, PF/C, Trail Blazers (foot)
Antonio Daniels, PG/SG, Wizards (knee)
Melvin Ely, C, Hornets (eye socket)
T.J. Ford, PG, Raptors (back/neck)
Pau Gasol, PF/C, Grizzlies (big toe)
Mehmet Okur, C, Jazz (trapezius)
Theo Ratliff, C, Timberwolves (knee)
Day-to-day
Ray Allen, SG, Celtics (ankle)
Rafer Alston, PG, Rockets (groin)
Carlos Arroyo, PG, Magic (foot)
Kelenna Azubuike, SG, Warriors (knee)
Rodney Carney, SF, 76ers (flu)
Josh Childress, SG/SF, Hawks (groin)
Francisco Elson, C, Spurs (ankle)
Daniel Gibson, PG/SG, Cavaliers (mouth)
Matt Harpring, SG/SF, Jazz (stomach)
Acie Law, PG, Hawks (knee)
Rashard Lewis, SF, Magic (neck)
Stephon Marbury, PG, Knicks (personal)
Tracy McGrady, SG/SF, Rockets (knee)
Jermaine O'Neal, PF/C, Pacers (neck)
Tony Parker, PG, Spurs (ankle)
Cedric Simmons, PF, Cavaliers (ankle)
Peja Stojakovic, SG/SF, Hornets (groin)
Salim Stoudamire, SG, Hawks (ankle)
Kurt Thomas, PF/C, SuperSonics (ankle)
Tyrus Thomas, SF/PF, Bulls (hip)
Antoine Walker, SF, Timberwolves (ankle)
Delonte West, PG/SG, Supersonics (foot)
Losing Mehmet Okur might hurt Utah quite a bit against the Bobcats, who can match up a lot better with smaller teams. With Okur out, Charlotte's Emeka Okafor might be a good start, as Utah's interior defense should suffer any time Carlos Boozer is forced to play center. … Udonis Haslem is a good start against the Hawks, as he'll have a size advantage against anyone Atlanta uses to cover him as long as Shaquille O'Neal can stay in the game. … I love Andre Miller's matchup against Jamaal Tinsley in the 76ers-Pacers game; I think Miller has too much size for Tinsley, and he is smart enough to take Tinsley down low where he can take advantage. … Similarly, you can probably sit Rajon Rondo against the Pistons, as the Chauncey Billups-Rondo matchup is the one that's most in Detroit's favor. I'd expect Billups to try to post up Rondo as much as possible, and it'll only get worse if Eddie House has to play a lot of minutes for Boston. … Look for Drew Gooden to have a big game for the Cavaliers against the Knicks; he's got the size to deal with the Knicks' interior players, and the quickness to score on them when he's on offense. … If you were thinking of starting Darko Milicic for Memphis while Pau Gasol is out, don't do it against the Spurs on Wednesday. Tim Duncan is back, and with Memphis lacking interior defense, I'm expecting the Spurs to take advantage and get Darko in foul trouble early. … Al Jefferson should be a monster against Golden State, mostly because the Warriors don't have anyone big enough to bother his shot. … Go ahead and start Craig Smith (and all your other Timberwolves) as well. Playing against the Warriors is good for fantasy teams. … I'm very excited to see the Dwight Howard-Yao Ming matchup in the Orlando-Houston game. Both of them are elite players, and matching up with one another does nothing to change that. Both teams rely heavily on their centers for interior defense though, so don't be surprised if one or both get into foul trouble. … Travis Outlaw still isn't starting for Portland, but he's getting minutes and putting up numbers. I don't like any of Toronto's options for guarding him, so he's a good start on Wednesday. … Start all your Hornets against Seattle, but I wouldn't start anyone not named Kevin Durant for the SuperSonics.
A lot of people have already picked up the Wizards' DeShawn Stevenson, but he's still available in a lot of leagues and has a very favorable matchup against the Bulls. If he can raise his field goal percentage to his career average of 46 percent, which he has started to do over the past five games, he'll be a very valuable fantasy player long term, at least until Gilbert Arenas returns from injury. … Miami guard Chris Quinn has started to become a popular waiver-wire pickup, but his minutes went down the tank against Indiana on Saturday, and the point guard position still belongs to Jason Williams when healthy. If you need assists, Williams is actually a good pickup against the Hawks, who don't defend the point well. … Give the 76ers' Kyle Korver a look against Indiana; the Pacers take a lot of 3-pointers, but their opponents have hit only 11 fewer 3s all season. If Philly starts chucking from deep, Korver could have a big night. … Golden State's Kelenna Azubuike is dealing with some knee problems, which could mean more minutes for Matt Barnes, who always produces given the chance. The matchup with Minnesota should be a good one for Barnes. … We could see Dallas go small with Dirk Nowitzki at center against Phoenix, which could mean some extended playing time for Brandon Bass. Bass isn't a good long-term option right now, but he could post some good numbers against Phoenix if you are looking for rebounds and blocks. … Channing Frye had a great game for Portland against Denver on Sunday, and with LaMarcus Aldridge out, Frye will have to play more minutes against Toronto guarding Chris Bosh. It's a tough matchup, but given minutes, Frye could be a decent source of points and blocks.
Seth Landman is a fantasy basketball analyst for ESPN.com
