The NBA has had plenty of early season injuries, especially to star players.  However, Week Four was more about people returning from injuries, rather than previous weeks when stars were dropping like flies.  Pau Gasol, Antawn Jamison, and Devin Harris all returned to the court last week.  Brandon Jennings also proved that he is mortal, only ranking 30th last week.  Peja Stojakovic had a monster week, racking up 16 treys.  He will continue to be up and down, and will likely miss his fair share of games due to his bad back.  James Harden had his all-star game of his young career.  He isn’t getting the minutes, but is someone to keep an eye on for later in the season.  Marcus Thornton was another pleasant surprise.  He recieved 26 minutes per game of playing time last week, and made nearly 3 treys per game while scoring 19 points a game. No way he keeps that pace up, but he definitely deserves an add, at least while CP3 is sidelined.

Week Five Schedules
Four GamesDAL, DEN, LAC, MEM, MIL, MIN, NJN, NYK, ORL, PHI, POR, SAC, SAN, TOR
Three GamesATL, BOS, CHA, CLE, DET, GSW, HOU, IND, LAL, MIA, OKC, PHO, UTA, WAS
Two GamesCHI, NOR

Projected Top 25 Players for Week 5

1. Dirk Nowitzki (4)
2. Carmelo Anthony (4)
3. LeBron James (4)
4. Pau Gasol (4)
5. Marc Gasol (4)
6. Baron Davis (4)
7. Jason Kidd (4)
8. Brandon Jennings (4)
9. Chris Bosh (4)
10. Andrea Bargnani (4)
11. Tim Duncan (4)
12. Chris Kaman (4)
13. NeNe Hilario (4)
14. Larry Hughes (4)
15. Danny Granger (3)
16. Rudy Gay (4)
17. Chauncey Billups (4)
18. Steve Nash (3)
19. Lou Williams (4)
20. Kobe Bryant (3)
21. Jason Thompson (4)
22. Andre Iguodala (4)
23. Brook Lopez (4)
24. Greg Oden (4)
25. J.R. Smith (4)

Black Friday Specials

Beno Udrih (44% Owned) – Beno is quietly posting studly numbers. Last week Beno averaged 17 points, 6 assists, with a steal and a trey. Sacramento has the fourth easiest schedule in week five, so look for this hot streak to continue.

Ty Lawson (31% Owned) – Lawson may have been the steal of the draft, and he is rewarding fantasy owners early in the season. Although his time is limited, he is really producing with the minutes he receives. In Week Five, Denver plays the Nets, Knicks and T-Wolves (twice)… look for Lawson to get plenty of garbage time minutes this week.

Ersan Ilyasova (17% Owned) – Ilyasova wasn’t handed the starting job initially due to his lack of rebounding, but he has proven to Skiles that he can, and will rebound. Last week Ilyasova average 15 points, 10 rebounds while draining 2 treys per game. Yet, he is unowned in 83% of all leagues.

Jared Dudley (19% Owned) – Jared Dudley worked on his long distance game in the off-season and it really shows. Dudley is currently making 1.7 treys per game, while also getting 1.3 steals. He is not the fanciest tool in the shed, but he is a great “glue” player that can really fill in some missing categories.

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