Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.
Who Are Those Masked Men?
Dwight Howard turned in a stunning 14-of-16 performance from the free-throw line against the Raptors. But Howard wasn't the only Orlando player who made stepped outside the box. Starting 'two' guard J.J. Redick scored a career-high 27 points adding six rebounds, five assists and five three-pointers. Jameer Nelson and Ryan Anderson added five three-pointers apiece, with Nelson scoring a team-high 30 points and Anderson chipping in for 20.
I wouldn't get too excited about J.J. Redick, since both Vince Carter (ankle) and Mickael Pietrus (flu) missed Sunday's game. Both are expected back this week, which pushes Redick back into his famed role as a bench player.
Jason Williams played just 11 minutes, scoring two points and adding a mere three assists. Blame it on Jameer Nelson, who decided that Williams' services were no longer necessary. Take a cue from Nelson, Williams is not worth an add in standard leagues.
ORLANDO -- When the Orlando Magic signed out-of-work Jason Williams this summer to a one-year, minimum wage contract, they made it sound like he was coming merely to be an insurance policy, giving them a past-his-prime, third point guard in case the bottom fell out on the other two.
He's obviously going to be more, a lot more for a real good team.
Williams, 33, is no longer the flashy, wrap-around-passing entertainer he was earlier in his career in Sacramento, but he looks refreshed and ready to play at a high level once again, adding another strong weapon to the defending Eastern Conference champs.
Who doesn't like a list, especially on a Monday morning when that's about all you can handle?
Here are five moves that might not have gotten a lot of attention but were very solid nonetheless:
--Raptors get Marco Belinelli from Warriors for Devean George, cash: Belinelli may not be a starter in the NBA, but he can be a rotation guy. And it just so happens the Raptors are pretty much bereft of two guards. That alone should get Belinelli on the court, and from there he'll certainly help at various junctures. As for George, who knows if he'll be healthy and who knows if he'll be able to crack the Warriors' rotation if he is.
Magic center Dwight Howard proved last season that you don't have to grimace -- you can smile -- on your way to the NBA Finals.
He wants to prove this summer that you don't have to lock yourself in the gymnasium to improve your game.
The world will be his workout room. Only time will tell.
While vowing to return a better player next season, Howard was beaming Tuesday when he described his whirlwind summer that has included -- or will include -- filming two different movies in Los Angeles, a television show in New York, a basketball camp in Vicksburg, Miss., shoe promotional trips to China and across Asia, and an NBA charity stint through Africa. And that's only part of his schedule.
ORLANDO -- The way Matt Barnes sees it, the only thing the Orlando Magic lacked last season was the kind of toughness, the kind of physical play, that he now brings them. He still thinks he could play in the NFL.
"I'm tough. I'm a tough player with a football background. I think teams appreciate that,'' he said Friday afternoon at the Magic's practice facility. "Football is a physical game. I think that fits with some of the things they were looking for.''
Despite advancing all the way to the NBA Finals last season, the Orlando Magic have been one of the most active teams of the summer, staring the luxury tax in the face while pulling off a blockbuster trade (Vince Carter) and fearlessly investing in youth (Brandon Bass and Marcin Gortat).
On Monday, the team solidified its depth, coming to terms on a two-year deal with the versatile Matt Barnes, who's coming off a career season with the Phoenix Suns. The deal, first reported by ESPN's Marc Stein, hasn't been officially announced but was confirmed by the Orlando Sentinel via a text message from Aaron Goodwin, Barnes' agent.
What little chances the Phoenix Suns still had at sneaking into the playoffs came to a quick and violent end on Sunday, when the team gave up 140 points on the way to an ugly loss in Dallas. To a man, the Suns' players and coaches seemed genuinely surprised at the way the game went, but really, given the way that they've performed on the road of late, the outcome was one that should have been expected.
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.
Joe Johnson has leveled off after a stunning start to the season. Of course, "leveled off" simply puts J.J. back in the tangible stratosphere instead of another galaxy. As such, his terrific 35 points, seven rebounds and six assists against Portland still stands out as one of Sunday's best lines, Earthbound or not.
PHOENIX -- Less than an hour before the Suns were set to tip off their nationally televised game with the Lakers, head coach Alvin Gentry got the call in his office from the team's head athletic trainer. It was bad news: Steve Nash would be unavailable, due to an ankle sprain that would force him to miss his third straight game.
Gentry was optimistic about his team's chances anyway, and as it turned out, he had good reason to be. The Suns got a balanced effort from several players, and behind 33 points from Shaquille O'Neal, they beat the Lakers 118-111.
PHOENIX, Ariz -- Kelenna Azubuike is a young, athletic, and potentially explosive offensive player for the Golden State Warriors. But his up and down play this season has made him somewhat of an enigma to his coach, Don Nelson.
Azubuike scored 25 points and made four of his six three-point attempts during the Warriors' win over the Suns earlier in the week, but completely disappeared in the rematch on Friday. After playing 27 minutes in the first meeting, he managed to stick around for just 15 minutes in the second, and finished with just five rebounds and three personal fouls -- but zero points.
When the game was over, I asked Nelson what he was seeing with Azubuike, considering the extreme change from game to game in his performances. With an unopened Bud Light in his right hand (hey, technically it wasn't a press conference), I got a sarcastic yet classic response from the veteran NBA head coach.
Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective. 
ORLANDO -- When the 
Who doesn't like a list, especially on a Monday morning when that's about all you can handle?
Magic center 
ORLANDO -- The way 
Despite advancing all the way to the 
What little chances the Phoenix Suns still had at sneaking into the playoffs came to a quick and violent end on Sunday, when the team gave up 140 points on the way to an ugly loss in Dallas. To a man, the Suns' players and coaches seemed genuinely surprised at the way the game went, but really, given the way that they've performed on the road of late, the outcome was one that should have been expected.
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." 
PHOENIX -- Less than an hour before the Suns were set to tip off their nationally televised game with the Lakers, head coach 
PHOENIX, Ariz -- 
