Three Is Not the Magic Number

Three is a magic number,
Yes it is, it's a magic number.
Somewhere in the ancient, mystic trinity
You get three as a magic number.

The past and the present and the future.
Faith and Hope and Charity,
The Yao and the Ron-Ron and the T-Mac
Give you three as a magic number.

I altered the famous School House Rock song above (which was also covered by Blind Melon and (sort of) De La Soul) to include the "mystic trinity" in Houston. Three might be the magic number, but not for the Rockets thus far. They saw their version of the "Big 3" all go down in the same game on Monday. Here's what we know.

Tracy McGrady said his knee now feels like it felt before he had offseason surgery and that he's going to "shut it down" until he gets healthy. Keep in mind that he hasn't had his MRI yet, so this outlook simply came from a bummed out T-Mac after last night's game. We've been recommending selling high on T-Mac and he's had a gloom-and-doom sense about him all season. If you own him, just hang onto him for now - unless a fellow owner wants to give you something worthwhile for him. And no, I would not recommend moving T-Mac for Anthony Morrow or Luc Richard Mbah a Moute right now. But unless McGrady was being overdramatic last night, he could miss several weeks while he lets his shoulder and knee heal. Now we just have to hope he doesn't need more surgery.

Ron Artest rolled his ankle on another player's foot just before the buzzer. He hobbled into the locker room and said after the game that it "isn't broken" and that he'll be ready to play in the next game. But we'll have to let doctors have a look at it and see what kind of swelling he suffered after the game before penciling him in for the next one. It's very possible he suffered a high sprain and could miss some time, or he could play in his next game. Obviously, Artest owners will want to watch for updates.

The good news is he actually made it through a game last night without killing your field goal percentage, hitting 7-of-15 shots and posting a double-double. If T-Mac is out with his knee injury, Artest should fare better going forward.

Yao Ming didn't make it out of this one in one piece either, although his foot injury seems to be the least of the Rockets' concerns. My guess is that had his injury occurred on a night the team didn't also lose the other two stars, it would be a much bigger story. Anyway, Yao tweaked his left foot - yep, the same one he had surgery on last year - last night and did not return to the game. He said later that he knows how to take care of his body and that the injury isn't serious. Again, we'll let the doctors be the judge of that, but of the three injuries, Yao's seems least significant.

Shane Battier will practice today and could return by the end of the week, barring any setbacks to his surgically repaired ankle. Battier is an obvious pickup and could move right into the starting five. In addition, it's possible that Rafer Alston could slide over to shooting guard, allowing Aaron Brooks to spend much of each game at point guard. Luther Head could also emerge with some value here as well. The only sure thing is that Battier will produce if he's healthy and one of the three big names is out. But Brooks has been a popular sleeper all year, and this is just another reason to consider picking him up. And Luis Scola bounced back last night with 23 points and nine boards, and would also see a big bump if Artest or Yao are out.

Live Chats

Join Matt Stroup on Wednesday at 1 p.m. (I think) for a live chat. I'll also be hosting my weekly
The Return

Andrei Kirilenko - AK-47 came back from a finger injury and played well as the Jazz broke a three-game losing streak by beating the Suns. He had 19 points, seven boards and two blocks, so get him back in your lineup.

Matt Barnes - Barnes was back from his two-game suspension for his incident with Rafer Alston and also played well, hitting 8-of-13 shots and a couple threes on his way to 19 points and five rebounds. He's been bad luck for his fantasy owners thus far, but clearly looks like the best of the Suns many wing players to own. I benched him in most leagues with just three games, but am looking forward to getting a full week out of him in the next one.

Rafer Alston - Skip also came back from his suspension and had 13 points and three assists in the win. As I stated earlier, his value could be on the rise - especially if he could hit 6-of-13 shots every night, as he did on Monday.

Marcus Camby - Camby wasn't out, but didn't start in his last game. He was back in the starting five last night and had seven points, nine boards and six blocks. That's about all we can expect from him until he's 100 percent healthy and figures out the Clippers' system. Speaking of which, they lost again to fall to 1-8. Baron Davis is getting angry, but at least the team is showing signs of life. Cuttino Mobley (18 points) and Chris Kaman (17-13-3) both had big games last night and they battled San Antonio to the wire.

Chris Wilcox - Wilcox didn't come back last night, but is said to be ready to return to action in the Thunder's next game. He's been out for five with a knee injury and could be worth owning if he gets involved in the OKC offense. Nick Collison hasn't really been much to write home about, so keep your eye on Wilcox this week.

Big Numbers

Tim Duncan had 20 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks last night as he continues to be the fantasy rock he always is.

Roger Mason Jr. hit three treys, including the game-winner, and scored 20 points in last night's win. He didn't have an assist, but that's OK. Teammate George Hill scored just two points, but had five boards and eight assists, while ageless Michael Finley had 19 points and three treys on the night. I've been talking about picking him up a lot, and he got his week off to a great start last night.

Kevin Durant finally showed the OKC faithful what he can do last night, hitting 13-of-23 shots and a three for 29 points, seven boards, four assists and four steals. He's starting to come on, so hang in there if you drafted him.

Teammate Russell Westbrook had another poor shooting night (5-of-14) but posted 14 points and five steals. I'm not sure why, but I love this kid. His field goal shooting is atrocious and it's killing me and the rest of his owners, but I can't stop putting him in my lineup. Hopefully he gets to the point that he has two good games and one bad one per week. But if the Sonics play four times, he's going to be in my lineup - FGP be damned.

Amare Stoudemire had 30 points, but just eight boards and one block. Shaquille O'Neal played 32 minutes and Barnes was rebounding, but Amare just can't seem to put up the numbers we are accustomed to unless Shaq is playing limited minutes. Diesel hit just 3-of-11 shots last night, while Steve Nash was quiet with 14 points and eight assists.

Sidebar on Nash: The good news is that he's turning the ball over a lot less in the slowed down offense this season. But the bad news is that he kind of looks more like Andre Miller (with threes) than he does Steve Nash. If you own Nash you have to think about trading him before the other owners in your league get a sense of what you are going through. Unless Terry Porter pulls the plug on his half-court plan, Nash's numbers are likely to come in lower than we were expecting. Keep in mind he got off to a hot start, and is still one of the better point guards in fantasy hoops. He's just not at the elite level he used to be.

C.J. Miles caught fire for the Jazz and scored 21, also killing Ronnie Brewer's production in the process. I don't see Miles having value, so just continue to ignore him unless you see him do this again in the near future.

The Missing

Word out of Milwaukee today is that Charlie Villanueva isn't due back anytime soon from his hamstring injury, so owners of Luc Richard Mbah a Moute should see continued run out of your find. And even when CV returns, it looks like the starting job belongs to the rookie.

Michael Redd is also doubtful for Tuesday and Wednesday with his sprained ankle. Ouch. What looked like a one- or two-game thing has been lingering for a full two weeks now and he's still not back. If you owned Redd over the past couple seasons, you'll remember dealing with similar problems later in the year. And I'm guessing you learned your lesson and stayed away this time around. Charlie Bell will continue to start, and Ramon Sessions will continue to get more minutes than normal with Redd out.

Deron Williams (ankle) and Mehmet Okur (personal) were both out again last night for the Jazz. Williams' return this week is still iffy, although he keeps saying he wants to play. It would probably be best for the Jazz to just leave him benched until next week and let him heal. But my guess is he'll play this weekend, if not sooner. Okur is back from watching over his ill father and shouldn't miss any more games - at least for now.

Leandro Barbosa is also on his way back from losing his mother and hopes to play on Thursday.

Housecleaning

Dwyane Wade says he's playing tonight through a sprained ankle, Brevin Knight tweaked a groin yesterday, Samuel Dalembert (knee) missed a practice and Desmond Mason will miss a couple weeks for the Thunder, not that he should have been owned in the first place.

Mikki Moore could miss all week for the Kings and if things go well for rookie Jason Thompson, he could steal Moore's job while he's out. Kevin Martin should return by the end of the week, but I benched him where I could for this scoring period. With Moore out, Quincy Douby may start at shooting guard this week.

And did you notice Spencer Hawes' bad line from the other night? Not saying he won't bounce back, but the window for you to trade him for a ridiculous prize in return has probably closed.

Trading Oden

I was finally able to move Greg Oden yesterday in what will probably be viewed as a controversial trade. I sent Luke Ridnour and Oden to owner Doug M. in exchange for T.J. Ford and Nene. On paper, I obviously win this trade. Ford's numbers are better than Ridnour's and Nene's are better than Oden's (although we only have a few games to work with concerning the rookie). However, this trade should not be judged on what has happened up to this point, because it's meaningless.

The bottom line is that three of the most injury-prone players in the NBA were included in this deal. If everyone stays healthy, I probably come out the big winner, although if Oden is healthy all year, he's going to put up some sick board and block numbers. But if Ford takes one bad fall, his career could be over. And Nene has been so quietly healthy it was probably the perfect time to sell high on him. And it was time for me to sell high on Oden before he gets hurt again. Doug wanted Oden on his team (Portland based league) and had to pay to get him after he posted those two big lines over the weekend. But had he acted when Oden was in a walking boot, my asking price would have probably been much lower. It will be interesting to see which one of those players goes down first and how this trade works out for us. Pleasure doin' business with you, Doug. Maybe.

Steve "Dr. A" Alexander is the senior editor for the NBA and PGA Tour for Rotoworld.com. The 2008-09 NBA season marks his seventh year of covering hoops for Rotoworld.com.