Court Report: Byron Scott gets real

Wednesday's 11-game schedule included some new starters for Byron Scott and the Cavaliers.

• It took five straight losses by an average of 22 points for Byron Scott to finally face reality and adjust his starting lineup. Scott started Antawn Jamison at power forward and Daniel Gibson at shooting guard Wednesday, ahead of J.J. Hickson and Joey Graham, as the Cavs took on the Bulls. The result (another loss) was familiar but Jamison and Gibson clearly give the Cavs a better chance on most nights and, more importantly, are vastly superior fantasy options to the players they are replacing. Jamison (21 points, 2 threes, 6 boards Wednesday) and Gibson (14 points, 2 threes, 8 boards, 2 steals) both warrant universal consideration as starters - Jamison is already most of the way there - while it's safe to drop Hickson (9 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 2 turnovers) en masse. That's not to say that it wasn't previously. Perhaps Hickson will settle in as a reserve, but his struggles as a starter were undeniable and it's clear that he benefitted from playing alongside LeBron James as much as anyone on the roster. Over his last 11 starts, Hickson averaged 8 points on 41-percent shooting and 5.2 boards in 22 minutes, while posting a 0.68:1 Curry Line ratio. Scott said he'll give the new lineup a look for a week and see how things shake out before considering any further adjustments, but Wednesday's starting five certainly seems like the best option available.

• Carlos Boozer struggled against the Cavs (21 minutes, 2-6 FG, 3 fouls) but the team got production from its other stars, Derrick Rose (29 points, 3 treys, 8 assists, 3 turnovers) and Joakim Noah (13 points, 14 boards, 2 steals). Ronnie Brewer erupted for his best statistical output of the season (30 minutes, 9 points, 8 boards, 6 steals), but it's hard to see a situation where the Bulls move away from their platoon of Keith Bogans, Brewer, and Kyle Korver at shooting guard and allow one player to emerge with consistent value.

• The Celtics dispatched of the Nuggets with relative ease Wednesday. Carmelo Anthony was a late scratch Wednesday because of right knee inflammation and is day-to-day. Ty Lawson was the highlight for the Nuggets, as had one of his best lines (34 minutes, 24 points, 7 assists, 3 turnovers, 3 steals) as the team went small for much of the game. Nene Hilario (12 points, 6 boards, 3 steals), Aaron Afflalo (16 points, 2 threes, 1 steal), and J.R. Smith (16 points, 2 threes) were solid enough, but Chauncey Billups struggled with his shot once again (2-10 FG, 7 assists, 1 turnover). Rajon Rondo (4 points, 13 assists, 5 turnovers, 1 steal), Ray Allen (28 points, 3 threes), Kevin Garnett (17 points, 8-9 FG, 9 boards, 1 steal, 1 block), and Paul Pierce (17 points, 2 steals, 1 block) each did their thing in the win.

• Andrea Bargnani did everything in his power to push the Raptors to a win over the Knicks, but in the end it wasn't quite enough. Bargnani went for 41 points on 16-of-24 shooting and had supporting stats galore (2 threes, 7 boards, 6 assists, 1 turnover, 2 steals), but the Knicks got more of the same production that has helped them win 11 of their past 12 games. Amar'e Stoudemire had his sixth straight game with more than 30 points (34 points, 14 boards, 2 blocks) and Raymond Felton double-doubled for the sixth time in eight games (28 points, 2 threes, 11 assists, 4 turnovers, 2 steals, 1 block). Other contributions came from Danilo Gallinari (20 points, 2 threes, 9 boards), Wilson Chandler (14 points, 2 threes, 6 boards, 1 block), and Landry Fields (9 points, 1 three, 10 boards, 1 steal, 1 block). Mike D'Antoni let his starters do the heavy lifting, ending Shawne Williams' run of production at three games (11 minutes, 0-1 FG).

• Kevin Love posted his fifth 20-20 game of the season Wednesday (22 points, 2 threes, 21 boards, 1 steal) and has half of the league's total of 10 thus far. He's also grabbed at least 15 rebounds in eight straight games, averaging 18.6 during that span. Love got the start at center against the Thunder, as Darko Milicic missed the game because of a quad contusion.

• Serge Ibaka was huge in the win over the T-Wolves, scoring 10 points, adding five boards, and tallying a career-high eight blocks. He was particularly pivotal on defense against Love and down the stretch - five of the shots he turned back were Love's, and six of his blocks came in the fourth quarter.

• Marco Belinelli found the Pistons to be just the tonic he needed to cure his shooting woes. Belinelli entered Wednesday having averaged 7.8 points on 28-percent shooting and 1 three over his past five games, but dropped a season-high 22 points and hit four threes. Nobody should be surprised if Belinelli's shot gets back on track, but a complete lack of supporting stats (2.1 boards, 1.3 assists, 1.1 turnovers, 0.4 steals) limits the extent of his fantasy impact.

• It was another game and another poorly-contested loss for the Pistons, who shot 38 percent en route to 74 points against the Hornets. Ben Gordon led the team in scoring off the bench (29 minutes, 19 points, 3 threes), but Tayshaun Prince, Greg Monroe, Austin Daye, Tracy McGrady, and Charlie Villanueva combined to make five of 31 shots (16%). Rodney Stuckey played a game-high 35 minutes (16 points), and John Kuester gave between 19 and 29 minutes to eight other players in no particular order. Good times.

• Larry Sanders struggled with foul trouble Wednesday (15 minutes, 1-7 FG, 3 boards, 1 steal, 1 block, 5 fouls), freeing up playing time for Ersan Ilyasova (40 minutes, 21 points, 10 boards). It's hard to get too excited here until we know exactly how long Drew Gooden's plantar fasciitis will keep him sidelined. Over the past six games, while Gooden has remained inactive, Sanders has averaged 7.3 points, 4.8 boards, and 2.5 blocks in 24 minutes; Ilyasova has averaged 11.8 points, 1 three, 7.5 boards, and 1 steal in 36 minutes … Andrew Bogut posted his third straight double-double (17 points, 11 boards, 2 steals, 5 blocks) since missing games due to back spasms, and his averages in those three games include 19.7 points, 14 boards, 1.3 steals, and 3.3 blocks in 39 minutes.

• Wednesday brought another stellar McBob line for Josh McRoberts in 25 minutes (8 points, 3-4 FG, 1 three, 7 boards, 5 assists, 0 turnovers, 2 blocks, 5 fouls). Over the past six games, McRoberts has totaled 25 assists and 10 turnovers; Darren Collison has totaled 20 assists and 20 turnovers in the same span.

• Stephen Curry left the Warriors' matchup with the Spurs after just 11 minutes with another right ankle sprain, just when it looked like his injury woes might actually be behind him. X-rays were negative, meaning no structural damage, but it's reasonable to think that Curry is going to sit for a bit and try to get his ankle all the way back to 100 percent. Wednesday night marked the fourth injury to the same ankle since late in the preseason. David Lee offered the following quote after the game:

"Anytime you continually keep rolling it like that, you've got to think about sitting out for a while and get the strength back. That can't be good for you to keep rolling it over and over."

Reggie Williams subbed in for Curry, went berserk (31 points, 8 threes), and clearly would be the beneficiary if Curry were to miss any length of time. Add Williams if you've got a roster spot in play until we get more definitive information regarding Curry. The second-year guard had been playing great basketball lately and was fourth overall in per-game rank entering Wednesday's game.

• The Spurs had a 10-point lead at the end of the first quarter and largely coasted in their win over the Warriors. No one player saw more than 28 minutes of playing time, but there were a number of useful fantasy lines, including DeJuan Blair's second double-double of the season (27 minutes, 15 points, 13 boards, 3 steals).

• The Suns' offense hit another rough patch Wednesday as early-season stalwart Jason Richardson misfired for the second straight game (21 minutes, 4 points, 1-11 FG, 0-4 3PT) and Steve Nash struggled (11 points, 5-12 FG, 0-5 3PT, 7 assists, 8 turnovers). The Suns' reserves did their best to keep them in the game versus the Grizzlies, however - Goran Dragic had 17 points and five assists in 35 minutes, Hedo Turkoglu had 15 points, three treys, and seven boards in 23 minutes, and Hakim Warrick scored 10 points in 23 minutes.

• Zach Randolph and Rudy Gay powered the Grizz to the overtime win over the Suns. Randolph had a season-high 34 points on 15-of-19 shooting and added 17 boards, while Gay scored 22 points and had two blocks in 48 minutes. Darrell Arthur was solid off the bench (29 minutes, 12 points, 10 boards), not something you could say for O.J. Mayo (24 minutes, 6 points, 1-4 FG).

• The Heat have now won six games in a row and Dwyane Wade is playing some pretty good basketball. He scored 28 points and added two threes and two steals in the 111-98 win over the Jazz Wednesday. Wade's averages over the past eight games include 23.5 points on 55-percent shooting, 7.8 boards, 5.1 assists, 4 turnovers, 2 steals, and 0.9 blocks. During the team's six-game winning streak, LeBron James has averaged 26.3 points on 54-percent shooting, 1.5 threes, 6.2 boards, 5.8 assists, 2.7 turnovers, 0.8 steals, and 0.7 blocks … Zydrunas Ilgauskas logged his first double-double of the season Wednesday (26 minutes, 16 points, 10 boards), but this came after a span of three starts where he totaled zero points and seven boards in 48 minutes.

• John Wall couldn't make it through the Wizards' shootaround and was a late scratch Wednesday because of soreness in his sore foot, and Andray Blatche missed his second consecutive game because of a left hip contusion. Kirk Hinrich started in Wall's place, Trevor Booker got the start for Blatche, and Kevin Seraphin was rewarded for his efforts Tuesday with a start ahead of JaVale McGee. The Wizards lost to the Kings by 25 points. One can only hope that McGee's demotion will prove to be short-term.

• The Kings won on the strength of good numbers from Beno Udrih (23 points, 3 treys, 6 assists, 4 turnovers, 3 steals), Jason Thompson (22 points, 14 boards, 1 steal, 2 blocks), Pooh Jeter (27 minutes, 13 points, 9 assists, 0 turnovers, 2 steals), and Omri Casspi (12 points, 6 boards, 6 steals). Tyreke Evans was not a big factor (26 minutes, 8 points, 5 assists, 1 turnover) and continues to deal with plantar fasciitis. He will have an MRI Thursday to get a more specific idea of the extent of his affliction.

• The Clippers hung tight with the Lakers on a night when neither team's offense was operating at full capacity. Eric Gordon (24 points, 3 treys, 4 steals) matched Kobe Bryant (24 points, 1 three, 1 steal), Blake Griffin (16 points, 11 boards, 1 steal, 1 block) bested Lamar Odom (8 points, 3-8 FG, 6 boards), and DeAndre Jordan (9 points, 11 boards, 1 steal, 1 block) wasn't far off of Pau Gasol's production (10 points, 10 boards, 5 assists, 3 turnovers). Shannon Brown continued his per-minute studliness for the Lakers, scoring 16 points in just 17 minutes (5-9 FG, 4 threes).

-----
Photos via Getty Images

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/blog/roto_arcade/post/Court-Report-Byron-Scott-gets-real?urn=fantasy-293577

Joakim Andersson Artem Anisimov Nik Antropov John Armstrong