Looking for a spark for your fantasy team? Here are a few players making some unexpected noise:
Beno Udrih – You never know what Paul Westphal is going to do with his lineups. You could be in the starting lineup one day and out of it the next: as is the case with Donte Greene. However, these lineup changes mean opportunities for other players, and Beno Udrih appears to be the most recent beneficiary of Westphal’s changes. Udrih started in the backcourt alongside Tyreke Evans in Friday’s win over the Utah Jazz, and was a key part to their success. He dropped a season-high 25 points on an impressive 11-16 shooting. With Kevin Martin now out of the equation in Sacramento, their is certainly more time to go around in the backcourt. And while Westphal can be fickle about his lineups, you can be sure he’ll continue to keep Udrih involved as long as he keeps having big games.
John Salmons – With Michael Redd out for the season, and inconsistent play from Brandon Jennings, the Bucks offense has frequently sputtered. The Milwaukee Bucks then took action by making a move for John Salmons at the trading deadline. Not only did this trade help to stabilize the Bucks’ backcourt, it also brought winning ways to Milwaukee. Since acquiring Salmons, the Bucks have won six straight games…and it’s no coincidence. Salmons has averaged 18 points, three assists and 2.5 rebounds per game. He’s also started the last four games and will continue to be a key rotation player for the Bucks for the foreseeable future.
The All-Star break seemed to have stunted the momentum of the East’s two top teams. In their first game back, the Cleveland Cavaliers (43-19) had a disheartening loss to the Denver Nuggets in overtime at the hands of Carmelo Anthony. The following night, the Cavs were visibly deflated against the Charlotte Bobcats and were outplayed from start to finish for their second consecutive loss. While the Orlando Magic (37-19) had a gimme win against the abysmal Detroit Pistons in their first game back from the break, a horrific fourth quarter against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday resulted in a loss that just shouldn’t have happened.
The Magic and Cavs will go head to head tomorrow in what will surely be a statement game. Some bad blood has developed between these teams, largely stemming from the Magic’s series victory in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals. Cleveland is 2-0 against Orlando this season, but with the Cavs’ recent lackluster play, the Magic are the close favorites to come out on top (see the detailed NBA odds).
Tracy McGrady made an unforgettable debut as a New York Knick tonight. While Kevin Durant would have the last laugh tonight and lead the Thunder to victory, it was McGrady’s poised performance that will leave the Knicks fans with something to talk about around the water cooler this week. Coming into tonight’s game, McGrady had only appeared in six games this season (none of which he played more than eight minutes) with ten points being his season high. While the Rockets hadn’t considered him physically fit enough to play this season (as he had still been recovering from micro-fracture surgery on his knee), in all likelihood they just didn’t see him fitting into their future plans. McGrady had insisted all along that he was ready to start playing again, and in his first night as a Knick he showed it.
Coach Mike D’Antoni started McGrady with the logic that he would be loose and ready to play immediately following warm-ups. The fans let out a collective cheer the first time McGrady caught the ball on the wing, and he continued to give them reason to cheer throughout the game. While McGrady might have looked a step slower than he was in his prime, he conducted himself as the star he likely believes himself to be. He came out with a swagger, making shifty drives to the hoop, working the pick-and-roll to perfection, and knocking down mid-range jump shots. It was great to see McGrady’s out there catching the ball on the wing with his back to the basket, then turning slightly to assess the defense while palming the ball with his outstretched arm – and then just making consistently sound decisions.
While I haven’t been able to get a close look at all of the recently traded players on the floor with their new teams, I did get to see a few of these notable players in action tonight and pass my first judgment. Of course, any statistician would tell you that the sample-size we’re looking [...]
Carmelo Anthony has been overshadowed by LeBron James his entire career. Two franchise forwards from the same draft class. Anthony’s development has been slower than LeBron, however he has blossomed into one of the league’s most prolific scorers…still not as prolific as James though, who leads the league at 30.1 points per game. When James [...]
While the Tracy McGrady and Kevin Martin megatrade and just where Amar’e Stoudemire might (not) end up dominated talks about the trading deadline, the Charlotte Bobcats quietly went about their business and made trades that will make their team more dynamic and versatile.
The Bobcats shipped out reserve swingman Flip Murray, the seldomly used Acie Law [...]
The Boston Celtics and New York Knicks have agreed on a trade that will send Nate Robinson and Marcus Landry to the C’s in exchange for Eddie House, J.R. Giddens, Bill Walker and a future conditional second-round draft pick.
Yes, the Knicks wanted to give up NateRob that badly. House will likely fit in just fine [...]
While last night we came to learn that an agreement between the Rockets and Kings would send Kevin Martin to Houston in a deal involving Tracy McGrady. Less than a day later, the New York Knicks decided that they wanted in on the action, and added a significant dimension to this trade. The deal now [...]
The trading frenzy continues tonight, as the Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings have agreed upon a seven-player deal that will send Tracy McGrady to the Kings and Kevin Martin to the Rockets.
As part of the deal, the Kings will also be trading Hilton Armstrong, Kenny Thomas and Sergio Rodriguez to Houston in exchange for Carl [...]
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The All-Star break seemed to have stunted the momentum of the East’s two top teams. In their first game back, the Cleveland Cavaliers (43-19) had a disheartening loss to the Denver Nuggets in overtime at the 
