Fantasy Basketball Week 1 (12/25 - 12/31)

12/29

• Mike Conley will miss at least the next two games.  Jeremy Pargo(0% owned Yahoo) did a fine job replacing him in last nights contest, but I would look elsewhere for fantasy help.  Norris Cole(16%) is still a solid option, but Ramon Sessions(56%) might have the more immediate impact.  Ankles are tricky and could linger all season.  The Grizzlies play 5 times between now and next Friday so it will be interesting to see how he plays when/if he returns this week.

12/27 

• Steph Curry will sit out Wednesday's night game against the Knicks after tweaking his ankle, again.  Add Brandon Rush(10% owned Yahoo) or Norris Cole(6%), if you need depth and fear Curry misses more than just this one game.  Cole dominated tonight's 4th quarter against the Celtics and single handedly help avoid a Celtic comeback.  Cole will be the starting PG very soon.
• Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward will be starting for the Utah Jazz tonight.

 

The NBA really decided to stick it to the Los Angeles Lakers this year.  First, they pull out of a CP3 trade, and next they give the Lakers the ONLY 6 game week of the entire year, and a 3 in 3 to start the season.  On top of that, Andrew Bynum is suspended for the first 4, so if you own him, be sure to pick up Josh McRoberts and add him to your lineup.

 

Team Playing 5 Games:

• Boston Celtics
• Start the season with a 3 game road trip @NYK, day off, @MIA and @NOR back to back.  Will not have a healthy Paul Pierce if they have Paul Pierce at all.
• Chicago Bulls
• Start the season with a 4 game road trip @LAL and @GSW back to back, two days off, @Sac and @LAC back to back.

 

 

• Dallas Mavericks
• Be careful playing Shawn Marion and Delonte West as we wait to find out how the rotation works.
• Denver Nuggets
• Tough schedule to start the season with road games @DAL @POR and @LAL.  They have a home and home against the Lakers to end the week.
• Miami Heat
• They get the Bobcats twice this week and go to Minnesota in between, so the Heat's bench should get a LOT of playing time.
• New Jersey Nets
• Lost Brook Lopez for a while, should be interesting to see how many minutes the big guys get with 4 of first 5 being road games..
• Oklahoma City Thunder
• It's business as usual for the Thunder.
• Orlando Magic
• Dwight Howard might struggle against Kendrick Perkins, but he finishes the week against the Rockets, Nets, Bobcats and Raptors.
• Sacramento Kings
• They face a challenging first 4 games with the Lakers Bulls and Knicks coming to town, with a trip to Portland as well before hosting the Hornets.  The Kings also have rotation issues so like the Mavs, be careful playing Jimmer and Jason Thompson.

Everybody else plays 4 games except for Milwaukee who only play 3 games.  So unless you have Brandon Jennings or Andrew Bogut, keep all Bucks out of your lineup Week 1.

• Golden State plays all 4 games at home.
• Philly plays all 4 games on the road.

 

Schedule info courtesy of Basketball Monster

 

If you have any roster questions don't hesitate to leave a comment!