PHOENIX -- The NBA's schedule is never something that teams will use as an excuse for playing particularly poorly in any single game.
But sometimes, the way things shake out, it can definitely be seen as a legitimate reason.
The schedule dictated that the Pistons finish up their four-game, West coast swing against a Suns team that averages 117 points per game on their home floor. And coming off of a tough, overtime loss in Utah the night before, Detroit never had a chance.
Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.
The first thing I thought of while watching the Warriors-Cavs game was: The Seven Samurai. And the tag-line for the film is nearly perfect -- "The Seven Warriors Who Became the Seven National Heroes of a Small Town." OK, so maybe we can take out "national heroes of a small town" and replace those words with "fantasy contributors for one evening."
Last night the Warriors went into Cleveland with just seven active players. Each, however, posted double-digit point totals, with Monta Ellis leading the way -- 23 points, eight assists, and three steals. Anthony Morrow looked pretty good himself, dropping 18 points and hitting four of his seven three-point attempts. All in all, you can't go wrong this week adding Morrow, Anthony Randolph, Stephen Curry or Corey Maggette. I'm still not sold on Mikki Moore or Vladimir Radmanovic, but I'm sure that will change over time.
Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.
Aaron Brooks led the Houston Rockets to a 101-91 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers last night. Brooks dropped a game-high 33 points, hitting five three-pointers, grabbing six rebounds and dishing four assists. The Rockets out-rebounded the Lakers 60-38, while holding them to 38.1-percent shooting from the floor.
Andrew Bynum led the way for the Lakers with 21 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Kobe Bryant left them game late in the fourth quarter. Initial word was that his knee was that it might have been a bruised knee. Then word came out that it was a groin strain. It looked more like a bruised ego to me, but what do I know about knees and groins?
Until last week, the last time the Detroit Pistons played a game in which neither Rip Hamilton or Tayshaun Prince started was the 2001-02 season -- when Prince was a senior at Kentucky and Hamilton still coming into his own playing alongside Michael Jordan in Washington.
Needless to say, adapting to life without those two mainstays -- Hamilton suffered a high ankle sprain in the season opener, and Prince joined him on the trainer's table with a back injury two games later -- has been an unexpected hurdle for first-year head coach John Kuester, who's now tasked with helping a starting lineup featuring four new additions to the team develop chemistry.
For most of this decade, the Pac-10 was UCLA and the rest. The Bruins have been the Pac-10's representation in the Final Four three of the four times the league has placed a team on the final weekend since 2000, failing to claim the championship each time, but pulling themselves ahead of the West Coast pack as the elite program.
That all changed last season, when Washington won the Pac-10 regular season and head coach Lorenzo Romar was named conference coach of the year. Now, his team returns as a favorite to win in the conference, and Romar knows it.
"Our team this year has the benefit of having some players that were on our team last year that won a Pac-10 Championship and that certainly helps us," Romar said. "I think we have the fastest team since 2005 when we had Nate Robinson," Romar said.
We could rehash the depressing nitty-gritty details, but why bother? It's a new season, and this year's squad looks very little like the one swept out of the playoffs in front of a turncoat Palace crowd.
Instead, let's focus on the changes, which should destroy your outdated notions of what Dee-troit Basket-ball is all about. First and foremost, the Pistons went from being one of the oldest teams in the league to one of the youngest -- and not just because four rookies will make the roster.
In our inaugural edition of the NBA Twitter mailbag, we've got some interesting topics to get us started. How will Shaq's ego fit in Cleveland? Is Kevin Durant getting the attention he deserves? And what's left on the Celtics' summer to-do list?
It's been a season of surprises for the Pistons -- and most of them haven't been pleasant. The decision to trade Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson blew up in everyone's face, and a team once marked by consistency was thrown into a constant state of flux as players both struggled to stay healthy and adjust to unfamiliar roles.
Things have finally calmed down over the last few weeks, in part because Will Bynum, a forgotten role player for much of the season, burst onto the scene to provide scoring off the bench and a steady presence in the fourth quarter -- ironically, the role the Iverson was too proud to embrace before shutting it down for the year.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Early in the season when the Pistons were struggling to adjust to life after Chauncey Billups, a common joke among those covering the team at the Palace (usually muttered while waiting for the locker room doors to open after yet another loss) was that Detroit's 4-0 start before Allen Iverson joined the roster would be the reason why the Pistons made the playoffs.
As the season progressed the joke became less funny and more poignant -- until eventually it revealed itself to be the truth. On Friday, with only three games to spare, the Pistons finally secured their invitation to the postseason with a win over the New Jersey Nets.
PHOENIX -- The NBA's schedule is never something that teams will use as an excuse for playing particularly poorly in any single game.
Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.
Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.
t's rare that we have back-to-back Stinkface. As a matter of fact, yesterday's Stinkface and today's are the first time we've gone back-to-back.
Until last week, the last time the Detroit Pistons played a game in which neither Rip Hamilton or Tayshaun Prince started was the 2001-02 season -- when Prince was a senior at Kentucky and Hamilton still coming into his own playing alongside Michael Jordan in Washington. 
For most of this decade, the Pac-10 was UCLA and the rest. The Bruins have been the Pac-10's representation in the Final Four three of the four times the league has placed a team on the final weekend since 2000, failing to claim the championship each time, but pulling themselves ahead of the West Coast pack as the elite program.
FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.
In our inaugural edition of the NBA Twitter mailbag, we've got some interesting topics to get us started. How will Shaq's ego fit in Cleveland? Is Kevin Durant getting the attention he deserves? And what's left on the Celtics' summer to-do list?
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Early in the season when the Pistons were struggling to adjust to life after Chauncey Billups, a common joke among those covering the team at the Palace (usually muttered while waiting for the locker room doors to open after yet another loss) was that Detroit's 4-0 start before Allen Iverson joined the roster would be the reason why the Pistons made the playoffs.
