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Court Report: Week 5 Dashboard, Part I

Each Sunday, the Dashboard centralizes all the crucial information fantasy managers need to dominate their weekly head-to-head matchups or climb the standings in their rotisserie leagues. The Dashboard covers schedule analysis, status updates, adds, drops, watch list candidates, and deep league targets for managers of all skill levels. Quite simply, it is a comprehensive weekly cheat sheet that is packed with so much information that we’ve devoted two writers to producing it.

Schedule Breakdown – essential schedule information for the upcoming week and beyond

Week three, total games.
5 games: ATL
4 games: CHA, CHI, CLE, DAL, DET, GSW, HOU, IND, LAC, MIA, NJN, NOH, NYK, OKL, ORL, PHI, PHO, SAS, UTH
3 games: BOS, DEN, LAL, MEM, MIL, MIN, SAC, TOR, WAS
2 games: POR

Week three, quality games.
1 game: ATL, LAC, SAC, WAS

Week three, best schedules.
GSW: DEN, @HOU, @MEM, @MIN
PHO: @HOU, CHI, LAC, @DEN
HOU: PHO, GSW, @CHA, OKC
OKC: MIN, DAL, @IND, @HOU
DEN: @GSW, CHI, PHO
SAC: @UTH, @LAC, CHI
ATL: BOS, @NJN, WAS, @NYK, @TOR

Week three, worst schedules.
POR: NOH, @NJN
WAS: PHI, @ATL, ORL
PHI: @WAS, @TOR, @MIA, NJN
NJN: ATL, @BOS, @PHI, POR
MIA: IND, @ORL, PHI, @DAL
DAL: DET, @OKC, @SAS, MIA
CLE: @IND, MIL, @ORL, MEM

Next month, total games.
16 games: ATL, MIA
15 games: CLE, DET, HOU, IND, NJN, NOH, OKL
14 games: CHI, DAL, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIN, NYK, ORL, PHI, POR, SAS, TOR, UTH
13 games: BOS, CHA, DEN, GSW, PHO, SAC, WAS
12 games: MIL

Next month, quality games.
3 games: DAL, MIA, WAS
2 games: ATL, BOS, GSW, MIL, NJN, NOH, POR, UTH
1 game: CHI, CLE, DEN, HOU, IND, LAC, MEM, OKL, ORL, PHI, PHO, SAC, SAS
0 games: CHA, DET, LAL, MIN, NYK, TOR

Remaining season, quality games.
Best: CHI (15), DAL (15), BOS (14), MIA (14), DEN (13), POR (13), SAS (11), WAS (11)
Worst: DET (1), TOR (1), MIN (4), NOH (4), CHA (5), CLE (5), IND (5), MEM (5), PHI (5)

Also see: Basketball Monster’s Schedule Grid and Ease Rankings

Status Updates - quick hitters from around the league

The New Orleans Hornetspulled off another solid trade, sending Peja Stojakovic’s(notes) expiring contract and Jerryd Bayless(notes) to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Jarrett Jack(notes),David Andersen(notes) and Marcus Banks(notes).Jose Calderon(notes) should be swooped up wherever he is available, as he is the starting point guard for the Raptors for the foreseeable future. Jarrett Jack can be cut across the board, as he’ll be backing up both guard spots in New Orleans, bringing his minutes down from the 27 minutes per game he saw in Toronto. Peja Stojakovic is interesting in deep leagues and could carve out a rotation spot for Jay Triano. However, he should sit on the waiver wires until we see how Triano is going to deploy him. The same goes for Bayless. As a scoring guard, he’ll be competing with Leandro Barbosa(notes) for minutes (who was active for Sunday’s game against the Celtics). This situation has all the trappings of a timeshare at this point but should be monitored going forward.

While there has been no shortage of attention surrounding the Miami Heat, there has been a shortage of luck. First, there was the offseason injury to key reserve, Mike Miller(notes). Now, Udonis Haslem(notes) is the latest key Heat bench player to go down with a serious injury that sounds like it may be torn ligaments in his foot. At this point, Zydrunas Ilgauskas(notes) deserves an upgrade (6 points, 10 rebounds in 30 minutes against Memphis Saturday night) and figures to be seeing around 30 minutes a night until Haslem returns or the Heat sign or make a trade for another big man.

Dwyane Wade(notes) sat out the Grizzlies game with a sore wrist allowing Jerry Stackhouse(notes) to start. Stackhouse should be ignored for fantasy purposes (19 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist). Chris Bosh(notes) continues to look good (20 points, 8-14 FG, 1 three, 10 rebounds, 2 steals) and appears to have turned the corner this season. Eddie House(notes) also played well for the Heat (20 points, 6 threes, 4 assists), including a key steal and dunk down the stretch that almost sent the game to overtime. House’s clutch play was spoiled by Rudy Gay’s(notes) buzzer beater that sealed the win for Memphis.

Both O.J. Mayo(notes) and Zach Randolph(notes) were benched during the first quarter for being late to the shoot around, allowing Darrell Arthur(notes) (14 points, 6 rebounds) and Xavier Henry(notes) to start. Zach Randolph eventually got it going in the second half, ending up with 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Mayo struggled for the entire contest (2 points, 1-7 FG, 0-3 3PT, 1 assist, 1 block, 2 turnovers). Apparently the pre-game shoot around is somewhat important for shooters to prepare for the game.

Saturday’s Knicks-Clippers game featured some of the most ridiculous highlight reel dunks in recent memory, courtesy of Blake Griffin(notes). Not only did Griffin deliver the Sports Center clips, but he also delivered the fantasy goods that make the rookie so hard to move (44 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 4 turnovers). If you have been looking to move Griffin, now is the time to do so. Chris Kaman(notes) is expected to be out at least another week and Baron Davis(notes) is targeting a Thanksgiving return. The return of Randy Foye(notes) has already had a negative impact on Eric Bledsoe’s(notes) value so if you can get any value for Bledsoe, now is the time to move him.

There were plenty of fantasy goods to go around for the New York Knicks on Saturday, as the Clippers proved once again why they are one of the easiest teams in the league to compile fantasy stats against. Amar’e Stoudemire(notes) was big (39 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks) but Danilo Gallinari(notes) was amazingly efficient en route to 31 points (7-11 FG, 4-6 3PT, 13-13 FT), four rebounds, two assists and four steals. Performances like this illustrate the Rooster’s ceiling.

Rashard Lewis(notes) (finally) got it going on Saturday night, scoring 21 points (8-11 FG, 5-7 3PT) and adding two rebounds, a steal and two turnovers. This was a point shy of his high-water scoring mark this season, which can only go down as a disappointment so far. The days of Shard the elite fantasy stalwart seem like a very long time ago.

T.J. Ford(notes) got the start against the Magic on Saturday night for the third straight game with Darren Collison(notes) sidelined with a lingering ankle injury. Ford took advantage of the start, notching ten points, nine rebounds, five assists, two steals and two turnovers. The Pacers as a whole were bothered by Orlando’s defense, forcing them into 39 percent shooting as a team. As a result, many key Pacers had poor shooting nights including Danny Granger(notes) (5-18 FG, 1-5 3PT), Mike Dunleavy (4-12 FG, 1-5 3PT) and Ford (5-14 FG, 0-3 3PT).

Goran Dragic(notes) filled-in for Steve Nash(notes)again on Saturday night and posted quality numbers (17 points, 6-13 FG, 1 three, 4 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 steal, 0 turnovers) but the Suns ultimately fell to the Bobcats. Nash is suffering from a groin injury that first surfaced during the offseason and resurfaced recently. Were Nash to miss extended time, Dragic would be an automatic pickup. Hedo Turkoglu(notes) also had one of his better games as a member of the Suns (18 points, 7-14 FG, 3 threes, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 4 turnovers) and looks to be more and more comfortable in Phoenix with each game.

The Suns really didn’t have any answer defensively for the Bobcats, with Stephen Jackson’s(notes) triple-double (24 points, 10-13 FG, 4 threes, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 4 turnovers) being the first in franchise history. The Bobcats moved the ball very well (37 assists as a team versus 19 for the Suns) resulting in big games for Boris Diaw(notes) (26 points, 11-17 FG, 4 threes, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 turnovers) and Tyrus Thomas(notes) (22 points, 9-13 FG, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 assists). Nazr Mohammed(notes) only saw 11 minutes of action in this one due to matchup purposes.

Al Horford(notes) had an extremely efficient, double-doubled (animal style) to the tune of 20 points, 10-12 shooting, 20 rebounds, five assists, one steal, three blocks and zero turnovers. Horford is continually making the case for first-round consideration next season. Teammate Josh Smith(notes) also posted a beefy line (21 points, 10-19 FG, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals) in the Hawks’ loss to Dallas on Saturday.

James Harden(notes) got the second start of his career with Kevin Durant(notes) in street clothes because of a mild ankle injury, leading the Thunder to victory (23 points, 6-13 FG, 6-8 3PT, 5-6 FT, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers) over the Milwaukee Bucks. Harden’s scoring in the starting unit (17.5 points per game) has to be forcing Scott Brooks to re-consider the Harden versus Thabo Sefolosha(notes) debate, making Harden an intriguing watch list candidate. Serge Ibaka(notes) got into foul trouble early on Saturday night, leading to a rare dud (4 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block). Chalk this one up to a bad matchup since Ibaka was dealing with both Drew Gooden(notes) (16 points, 16 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block) and Andrew Bogut(notes) (8 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks).

The guards continued to play well for Byron Scott on Saturday night, with Ramon Sessions(notes) (18 minutes) taking a back seat role to Mo Williams(notes) (21 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers) and Daniel Gibson(notes) (17 points, 3 threes, 2 assists, 1 block). Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, they didn’t get much else from the rest of the team leading to a 116-92 beat down courtesy of the San Antonio Spurs.

For the Spurs, the big story was Tiago Splitter(notes), who had his best game in the NBA. Splitter’s contributions (18 points, 7-10 FG, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks) helped keep Duncan’s minutes down to 17, which is good for the Spurs and bad for TD’s fantasy owners. A few more performances like this and Splitter might usurp the starting center spot from DeJuan Blair(notes).

Chauncey Billups(notes) got beat-up in Saturday’s game against the Nets, ending up with three stitches in his nose, a chipped tooth and a sprained wrist. If Billups misses any time, Lawson becomes an automatic plug-and-play. Nene Hilario(notes) finally seems to be playing well for Denver (22 points, 12-15 FT, 8 rebounds) and can be started without any second thoughts. Chris Andersen(notes) will likely be available for Monday’s game, and could make his season debut against the Golden State Warriors.

The Nets had seven players score in double-digits as they pushed Denver to the limit. Kris Humphries(notes) was effective in limited minutes (19 minutes, 10 points, 8 rebounds). Derrick Favors’(notes) strong play forced Avery Johnson to play him at the expense of Humphries, leading to 14 points and eight rebounds. Favors makes an interesting speculative pickup, as the 4-9 New Jersey Nets sink further down the standings in the Eastern Conference and have less to play for this season.

C.J. Miles(notes) was the hero for the Jazz on the road (25 points, 8-13 FG, 7-10 3PT, 2-2 FT, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 5 turnovers), as they knocked off the Portland Trail Blazers. Al Jefferson(notes) (20 points, 14 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal) and Paul Millsap(notes) (15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers) also had solid nights for Utah.

While Brandon Roy(notes) sat, both Wes Matthews (16 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals) and Rudy Fernandez(notes) (12 points, 3 threes, 2 assists, 1 steal) put up decent lines, affirming the notion that they will be the primary beneficiaries if Roy shuts it down. LaMarcus Aldridge(notes) also played well (24 points, 11 rebounds) but turned the ball over eight times.

Rajon Rondo(notes) sat out Sunday’s game against Toronto because of his hamstring injury and will likely miss Monday’s game as well. Nate Robinson(notes) is a solid plug-and-play option for Monday if Rondo ends up sitting out his second straight game this season.

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