FanHouse Troy Murphy

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

It was the premiere matchup of the evening, Kobe Bryant versus Kevin Durant. It took an extra five minutes to decide the contest, but in the end it was Kobe and the Lakers coming out on top by a three-point margin. Bryant dropped 31 points on 9-of-22 shooting, while Durant scored 28 points on 10-of-24 shooting, missing all eight of his three-point attempts.

Andrew Bynum chipped in with 22 points and 10 rebounds, but the real story might have been Ron Artest finally putting it all together. He scored 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting and picked off five steals. It's about time!

The season is officially upon us. It tips off Tuesday night as the Cavaliers welcome the Celtics to town. This moment we've all been waiting for.

Of course it seems as though you've got your fantasy teams in order. You came up with a more creative team name than "[Your Last Name]'s Team" and you're pretty sure you're the team to beat. But before you go and slack off, there's still work to be done. You need to embrace the math that is the weekly lineup.

It's not quite as easy as playing Player A over Player B just because you drafted him three rounds earlier than Player B. Sure it's safe to say that you're going to start guys like LeBron James each week, no questions asked. But for several players on your team it's crucial to look at the schedule and team matchups in order to gain the upper hand.

Each week it shall be my duty to break down the upcoming schedule and point out a few of the more favorable, and not-so-favorable, matchups. This could help make those start/sit decisions a little easier.

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FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

Not long ago, the Indiana Pacers were said to have a character problem, what with players such as Stephen Jackson, Ron Artest and Jamaal Tinsley. That issue, we know, has been taken care of.

Now the Pacers have a talent problem. As in, not enough of it.

Well, well, well. Somebody finally made the Lakers pay for their recent habit of getting off to less than stellar starts. That somebody was Troy Murphy, who got his 17th rebound of the game on this tip-in at the buzzer to send the Lakers to just their second loss of the season.



If you're thinking that the Pacers simply got lucky, then you probably didn't watch the game. It's true the Lakers got off to their typical slow start (they led by just five at the break), but they finished the third quarter on a 17-0 run that should have been plenty to put the game away. Indiana fought hard to come back though, forcing six Laker turnovers in the fourth and outscoring L.A. 32-16 in the final period to come out on top.

And if you're wondering how the heck Troy Murphy was in position to get that final rebound, well, he gets a lot of them, actually. Coming into this game, he was third in the league in rebounding, and this makes nine straight games he's had double digit boards. The Pacers are just 7-10, but they've been extremely competitive in most of those games. They're also now the only team to beat both the Celtics and the Lakers this season, which is pretty impressive considering those clubs have just four losses total between them.

B-Ball, B-Fast is a weekdaily look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.

Cup of Coffee
It's not like Chris Wilcox got demoted, technically. It is just that Nick Collison fits the role of center better. But Wilcox, for whatever reason, stopped starting. And Collison played very well. And the Sonics lost 14 straight games. Wilcox started last night at forward, and the Sonics beat the defending champion Spurs, while the ex-Terp recorded 16 points and 10 boards in 31 minutes. If the Sonics are winning when he is out there, he will play, and his value will take a big boost. If you have a discontent owner looking to move him, take a flier for cheap.

Hot Cakes
I know, I know. Leon Powe should have made the headline because I will not get another chance. I actually really like Powe, but he is not going to see any run with the "Big 3" around, barring a major injury. So unless you are in a daily league (in which case you should consider him for the C's next game) you can ignore his 25 and 11. It is nice to see Tony Allen back and scoring well already though, I must admit. And actually Allen, who would fill in for Ray Allen, is a better free agent option if you need to add someone.

Nate Robinson continued to be a monster, racking up 22 points with nine assists in 36 minutes off the bench Tuesday night. Robinson, averaging nearly 20 points and seven assists over his last three, should be starting for all teams while he is hot.

Check out this play from last night's contest between the Bulls and the Pacers. Troy Murphy gets a little overly aggressive with Tyrus Thomas, Thomas comes up swinging, and both players are ejected. It probably had little impact on the outcome of the game (a Pacers victory), but it's always interesting to see players attempt to throw down in the two seconds they have before everyone breaks up the altercation.

My colleague Tom Ziller pointed out to me that Thomas hasn't been getting much run lately, so he shouldn't exactly be doing things to get himself kicked out of games. He had two DNP-CDs in a row, and has only seen substantial minutes once in the last six games (a blowout win over Seattle). But he kind of had no choice here, right? Murphy was being a [jerk] with the aggressive slap and then the shove to the chest that sent Thomas to the ground, so I don't think you can blame Thomas here for reacting the way he did.

The Pacers are a surprising 3-0 through the first week of the season, but they got some bad news today: Ike Diogu, the team's third-leading scorer, will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a torn calf muscle suffered during Tuesday's practice. From the team's official site:

Diogu started on opening night in place of the injured Jermaine O'Neal and in three appearances this season has averaged 23.3 minutes, 13.7 points and 4.3 rebounds, making 16-of-28 shots from the field (57.1 percent).

"It happens. Injuries are part of the game," Diogu said. "It's an unfortunate time because I was starting to do the things people expect me to do on the floor. I've just got to wait it out, come back and get back to doing the same things."

Diogu has always been effective in small doses, and he seemed to be comfortable producing given more minutes last year. Though he's not a big name, a lot of people have speculated that he may turn out to be the gem of the Stephen Jackson/Al Harrington deal last year that netted Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy. Incidentally, Diogu's absence coincides with Murphy's return -- Murphy missed the last half of the preseason and the first three games with a balky back, but he's expected to be dressed and ready for action tonight against the Clippers.