By Cory Elfrink
December 2, 2008 2:55pm CST

Atlanta Hawks
Alas, Josh Smith - fantasy monster - appears to be ready to play again this Wednesday against Memphis. He has missed 12 games due to a high left ankle sprain suffered on November 7. Prior to his injury, the Hawks were 4-0. Since then, they have gone 6-6. Fantasy owners may notice similar swings of success when operating with a healthy and unhealthy Smith. Expect him to dominate defensive categories as long as he is healthy ... Joe Johnson, mired in a shooting slump (19-of-60 over his last four games), recently drew high praise from Raptors coach Sam Mitchell. "You're looking at a 6-8 two-guard, easily 230 pounds. And he's quick. He handles the ball as well as any point guard. And he can just flat-out shoot it. He has no weaknesses in his game," said Mitchell. "People don't talk about him much when you have guys like Kobe (Bryant), and LeBron (James) and Dwyane Wade. Those guys generally get the headlines, but there's not a coach in this league who wouldn't take Joe Johnson. He's an all-star. He's probably not as flashy as those three guys, but he's just as effective."

Boston Celtics
Kendrick Perkins picked up his league-leading ninth technical foul on Monday while playing against Dwight Howard and the Magic. What made it odder was that he got it following a goaltending call that went against Howard. Despite his quarrelsome attitude of late, Perkins has put up some nice numbers. In his last five games, he is averaging 10.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocks while shooting 59 percent from the field. There's a chance that an owner in your league has given up on the Celtics big man, so now looks like a good time to pick him up off the waiver wire.

Charlotte Bobcats
Jason Richardson's return from minor knee surgery has pushed rookie point guard D.J. Augustin back to the bench after a nice string of starts. J-Rich, meanwhile, has shown no rust after missing seven straight games. He scored 21, 22, and 25 points in a three-game stretch ending on Monday ... Don't look now, but the Bobcats are third in the league in points allowed per game, just behind Boston and Houston. One reason is that Emeka Okafor seems to be turning his season around following a rough start. In his last seven games, he is averaging 13.8 points, 12.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game.

Chicago Bulls
Larry Hughes has been vocal about his displeasure coming off of the bench, but with Derrick Rose, Ben Gordon and Luol Deng all healthy, that's a role he should get accustomed to. "At this point of my career, that's not a role that I want for myself right now. But I have to go out and play the minutes, play the game." In five games as a starter, Hughes averaged 14.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists. In his first game back coming off the bench he finished with 16 points, including four three-pointers ... Drew Gooden has embraced his role of being the Bulls' go-to guy on the block. In his last five games, he has played like an All-Star by averaging 19.4 points and 10.6 rebounds while shooting 53 percent from the field and 85 percent from the line ... 76ers coach Maurice Cheeks recently had some glowing praise for Derrick Rose. "For a rookie, a guy that's just coming in, he has a great command of his team," Cheeks said. "That's what stands out to me. You normally don't see rookies have command of a team like that."

Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers seem ready to challenge for an NBA Championship with their deepest roster in years. They rank fourth in both points per game and points per game allowed. A big reason for that is the consistent play they are getting from their 7-foot-3 center, Zydrunas Ilgauskas. He is averaging 20.3 points and 9.0 rebounds in his last three games, despite only playing 21 minutes per night. In this current stretch he is shooting 69.2 percent from the field (27-of-39). "Z is going to dominate the paint area no matter who's out there," Cavs forward LeBron James said. "That's the way he's been playing." While he does not block a lot of shots for a man as tall as he is, Ilgauskas continues to be a very underrated fantasy performer.

Detroit Pistons
In case you missed it, Allen Iverson shocked the world on Thanksgiving by failing to show up for practice. As a result, he came off the bench in their next game and was hardly noticeable in the box score in the game after that. The latter performance came on Sunday when they fell 96-85 to the visiting Trail Blazers, marking their sixth loss on a Sunday this season. "My rhythm is not there," Iverson noted after the loss. "It's kind of a different situation for me. I'm sitting more than I usually do, more than I have for my career." ... The main reason for the decline in minutes is Joe Dumars' pet project, Rodney Stuckey, who had gotten off to a slow start. Stuckey noted that it was a sore right wrist that was prohibiting him from playing his usual style, but now it seems to be healthy. In an average of 25 minutes per game over his last three, he has posted averages of 13.3 points, 7.0 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals. Look for more of the same from Stuckey the rest of the way.

Indiana Pacers
The Pacers have four games this week, but it may be the roughest four-game stretch we see any team go through this season. They will face the Lakers and Celtics at home and go on the road to play in Cleveland and Boston ... Jeff Foster and Roy Hibbert may see more playing time come their way. The Pacers have given up some absurd rebounding totals in their last three games to Dwight Howard (21), Emeka Okafor (20), and Luis Scola (18). Troy Murphy and Rasho Nesterovic are both perimeter-oriented big men and that gives the opposition a big advantage inside ... Danny Granger has attempted more three-pointers (105) than free throws (84) through his first 15 games of the season and is ninth in the league with 50 turnovers.

Miami Heat
Following a 106-68 blowout defeat in Portland when the Heat were out-rebounded 55-28, coach Erik Spoelstra inserted center Joel Anthony into the starting lineup, forcing Michael Beasley to the bench. In his three starts, Anthony has been anything but the answer. He has totaled just eight rebounds and six points in that span ... Meanwhile, Beasley has responded well in his last two games coming off the pine. He has averaged 21.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in those games ... Jamaal Magloire made a brief four-minute appearance in Miami's one-point loss to the Clippers. He could be ready to supplant Joel Anthony soon.

Milwaukee Bucks
Michael Redd returned to the Bucks on Saturday against the Cavaliers, but his arrival was not enough to keep Milwaukee from losing their fourth-straight game. In 35 minutes off the bench, he shot just 5-of-16 from the field, but converted all eight of his free-throw attempts on his way to 20 points ... Ramon Sessions started that game alongside Luke Ridnour in the backcourt. He finished with 16 points and eight assists to Ridnour's 15 points and one assist ... Charlie Villanueva also started that game ahead of Luc Mbah a Moute, but played only 16 minutes. He is still dealing with a sore hamstring suffered earlier in the season.

New Jersey Nets
The Nets are 9-7 and have a better record than fellow Atlantic Division foes Toronto, New York and Philadelphia. Heading into the season, they were expected to be cellar-dwellers because they only have two good players - Devin Harris and Vince Carter. It just so happens that they are really, really good and currently rank fourth and eighth in the league in scoring, respectively. The combo is averaging 49.1 points, 11.3 assists and just 4.0 turnovers despite handling the ball over half of the time. Coach Lawrence Frank uses a rotation of six various contributors who see anywhere from 23 minutes per game to 28. While it's been a recipe for success early on, Carter and Harris remain the only surefire fantasy starters. Yi Jianlian, Brook Lopez and Josh Boone (ankle) make decent bench options.

New York Knicks
The new-look Knicks looked pretty impressive - at least offensively - in their second game together this past Saturday against the Warriors. David Lee had career-highs in points (37) and rebounds (21) and became the first Knicks player with 30 points and 20 rebounds in a game since Patrick Ewing. Chris Duhon scored 12 points and set a Knicks record for assists in a game with 22. Al Harrington had 36 points and 12 rebounds in his first game against the Warriors since being traded. And fellow newcomer Tim Thomas came off the bench for 15 points and nine rebounds. They shot 13-for-27 from behind the arc, but also managed to give up 125 points in four quarters. Expect coach Mike D'Antoni to continue to work his magic by making average players into fantasy studs ... Stephon Marbury, Donnie Walsh and representatives from the NBA Player's Union met on Monday to resolve the mess surrounding the Knicks' $21 million man. However, no buyout agreement could be reached (even though Starbury was present for a whole 15 minutes!). As a result, he was ordered to stay away from the team until they can determine a way to get rid of him ... Cuttino Mobley has yet to play for the Knicks and is still undergoing tests on his abnormal heart.

Orlando Magic
Less than a week after losing shooting guard Keith Bogans for 4-6 weeks due to a broken thumb, the Magic lost starter Mickael Pietrus for 3-5 weeks with a torn ligament, also in his thumb. This chain of events has opened up loads of playing time for J.J. Redick and rookie Courtney Lee, but neither is currently a hot commodity in fantasy leagues. Remarkably, Redick is shooting a paltry 31 percent from the field and 29 percent from three-point range this season. He has totaled just 10 points in his two starts. Lee, who impressed coach Stan Van Gundy in training camp and throughout the preseason, is actually managing to do worse. Keep an eye on Redick though, as I suspect he will catch fire at some point in this string of starts.

Philadelphia 76ers
Sure, I pointed out that Samuel Dalembert's numbers were down a couple of weeks ago, but now it's getting downright disturbing. In his past five games he is averaging 4.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and shooting 37 percent. Last season? 10.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 51 percent from the field. The 76ers have lost four in a row and sit at the bottom of the Atlantic Division. They need to find a way to improve, and better production from Dalembert is one place to start ... Dalembert's not alone in his struggles. Thaddeus Young (poor shooting), Andre Miller (poor shooting and turnovers) and Andre Iguodala (turnovers and lack of aggressiveness) all need to step up their play. Elton Brand, who is the subject of a lot of pointed fingers, is currently the only good, consistent player on this team.

Toronto Raptors
Chris Bosh let it be known that he is striving to be included in the MVP race this season. "I came into this season saying I'm going to give (the MVP award) a shot. I think I can get it and we need more wins, of course, but when I think of MVPs in the past, I think of consistency and you know, every night they put it out there on the floor and, when need be, they put their teams on their backs." He has a case, as he is third in the NBA in scoring (26.8 points per game), second in minutes played (41.9 per game), and fifth in rebounds (10.2 per game). Unfortunately, on Sunday he had his worst game of the season against the Lakers and last year's MVP, Kobe Bryant. He finished with just 12 points and six rebounds in 37 minutes of a 99-112 loss. The Raptors will need to greatly improve on their 8-8 record for him to start receiving more recognition.

Washington Wizards
In case you haven't noticed, Antawn Jamison has been playing exceptionally well lately. It's not that he was not playing poorly under Eddie Jordan, but new coach Ed Tapscott has challenged him to be a leader and a role model to the young players on his roster. Jamison has responded. In his last seven games, he is averaging 23.9 points and 11.7 rebounds. If he continues such production, he should gain hefty trade value for fantasy owners. Why trade Jamison? If Gilbert Arenas does indeed come back in January, Antawn's value will take a hit. If you move him before, say, mid-December, you could still get substantial value in return ... In Tapscott's first game at the helm, Andray Blatche erupted for 25 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks against Golden State. In his next two games, he managed 11 fouls in 31 minutes to go with a total of 15 points and nine rebounds. Until he starts putting together back-to-back performances without getting into foul trouble, you are better off letting another owner worry about him.