Latest injury updates; new-look Nuggets to watch

	Nene stands to benefit from the Nuggets' makeover. Elsa/Getty Images

By Matt Satten, Special to SI.com, ProFantasySports.com

Here's the Week 9 preview, the final Lab of a terrific 2006:

This week's injury report features a few perennial fantasy studs. Hopefully none of your players are on this naughty list.

C Yao Ming -- Broken leg, out 8 weeks
F/C Chris Bosh, Toronto -- Left knee bone bruise, hopes to return on Friday
G/F Tracy McGrady, Houston -- Back spasms, day-to-day but could miss the whole week
SG Rashard Lewis, Seattle -- Finger surgery, out eight weeks.
F/C Nenad Krstic, New Jersey -- Torn ACL, out for year.
G/F Josh Smith, Atlanta -- Hernia surgery, out two to four weeks.
G/F Paul Pierce, Boston -- Stress reaction in foot, out two to three weeks.
C Marcus Camby, Denver -- Broken finger, out at least two weeks.
SF Carmelo Anthony, Denver -- Suspension, out until Jan. 20.
SG J.R. Smith, Denver -- Suspension, out until Jan. 8.
PF Lamar Odom, LA Lakers -- Knee sprain, out until mid-January or later.
PG/SG Monta Ellis, Golden State -- Shoulder injury, out indefinitely.
PF David West, New Orleans -- Arm surgery, out indefinitely.
G/F Hedo Turkoglu, Orlando -- Ankle sprain, day-to-day.
G/F Peja Stojakovic, New Orleans -- Back surgery, out indefinitely.
F/C Kendrick Perkins, Boston -- Plantar fasciitis, could return this week.
PG Brevin Knight, Charlotte -- Groin strain, out at least this week.
PF Sean May, Charlotte -- Sprained right ankle, very doubtful for Tuesday and questionable for Wednesday.
SF Ron Artest, Sacramento -- Sore knees/back (supposedly), day-to-day
F/C Troy Murphy, Golden State -- Achilles injury, out indefinitely.
PG Sam Cassell, LA Clippers -- Plantar fasciitis/heel injury, day-to-day but may shut it down for a few games to let the injury heel.
SG Larry Hughes, Cleveland -- Ankle sprain, still isn't 100 percent and has requested fewer minutes.

The injuries continue to mount up as the new year nears with several more fantasy All-Star caliber players going down for extended stretches. Yao, Lewis, Krstic, Pierce, J. Smith, Camby and Ellis are the newly wounded this week and not one of them is due back until 2007 at the earliest. Of the names mentioned above, we'd consider starting Artest and Hughes, and maybe Cassell and May in very deep leagues, but that's it. Otherwise it's wise to stay away.

Moving on to the scheduling portion of the Lab, here is the team game count for Week 9:

Four games: BOS, CHA, CHI, DAL, DEN, DET, HOU, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIA, MIL, MIN, NOK, NJN, PHI, PHO, POR, SEA, WAS
Three games: ATL, CLE, GSW, IND, NYK, ORL, SAC, SAS, TOR, UTA
Two games: None

Two-thirds of the league will enjoy four-game weeks, creating quite a heavy schedule in Week 9. For daily transaction leagues, there will probably be more games than starting spots on the big nights, so pay careful attention to the scheduling and your players' opponents.

Despite the abundance of games this week, only San Antonio plays all of their games at home. That should help the team slightly but then again the Alamo was also a home-field advantage.

Both Boston and Philly embark on West Coast road swings this week as they are the lone two teams playing all of their games on the road. Philly's trip, their longest of the season, is a grueling seven games in 12 days. But since three of the four defenses they'll be facing are allowing over 100 ppg (GSW, SAC, LAL), there will be plenty of fantasy numbers for all. For the Celtics, they get to run the up-tempo game with Denver, the Clippers, Golden State and Seattle, each of which is giving up 99 ppg or more.

Memphis and New Orleans also have strong four-game weeks this period. The Grizz square off against Washington and Milwaukee then have two days off to prepare for Toronto and a Yao Ming-less Rockets squad. On the flip side, of teams with just three games, Utah and Atlanta have it the roughest.

Now that we've got the scheduling part nailed down, it's time for the weekly Lineup Fixer Sixer. The Lab carefully considers recent trends, scheduling advantages, injuries, stats and much more to find you six players with four games who will make a serious difference for your squad in Week 9.

Before we get to the world's best Christmas list, let's grade last week's selections of SF Matt Barnes, Golden State; G/F Rasual Butler, New Orleans; SF/PF Renaldo Balkman, New York; C Rasho Nesterovic, Toronto; PG Derek Fisher, Utah and SF/PF Alexander Johnson, Memphis. If you hitched your bandwagon to Barnes, then there's no doubt you're still enjoying the ride. The kid loves Nellie's up-tempo style and has greatly benefited from all of the injuries surrounding him (Murphy, Pietrus, Ellis). The Lab doesn't need Miller Lite's men of the square table to tell us that the Barnes recommendation was a great call. Hornets' super-sub 'Sual Butler was another positive pick with his 16 ppg and 12 3PMs. While Balkman didn't provide any offense, we told you his defensive stats (8.0 rpg, 1.3 spg, 2.0 bpg) would be niiiiice. Johnson was the 86th ranked player and performed as expected. Rasho upped his scoring but we were more interested in the blocks that never materialized. And finally, D-Fish (did I really just call him that?) did some scoring highlighted by an 18-point effort, but on the whole was disappointing.

Here are Week 9's recommendations in the swan song Lineup Fixer Sixer for 2006:

F/C Nene, Denver:  Between the suspensions, the trade of PF Joe Smith, and the injury to Camby, Nene has been blessed with fantasy relevance for the first time this season. In his second start of the season last week, the mono-monikered Nugget grabbed 15 boards and added 8 points, 2 steals and 2 blocks for the evening in 30 minutes of play. If he hadn't of blown several easy layups courtesy of numerous Iverson feeds, Nene could have had 14 points or more. Recognize he's twice as likely to nab a steal than swat a shot, but as long as he boards and sinks the easy ones from now on, he'll deliver a very strong week.

PG Earl Boykins, Denver: The little man is another Nugget benefiting directly as a result of the suspension, namely J.R. Smith's. With A.I. and Boykins in the backcourt simultaneously, the Nuggets are short on defense but are sickeningly quick to post points on offense. In the last two games, Boykins has averaged 27 ppg, 5 rpg, 7.5 apg, 2 spg and hit 21-23 FT. Those are superstar numbers. While it might be easy to because of his height, don't overlook this little fantasy giant.

SF/PF Gerald Green, Boston: It only took one game, but the Gerald Green Hype Machine is in full swing already. Hailed as the best high schooler in his class, Green has been biding his time for part of two seasons, waiting for his chance to shine -- an opportunity that finally arrived last Friday thanks to Paul Pierce's foot injury. Green got his first meaningful start and delivered 20 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 3PM. With Pierce out two to three weeks, it figures that a man named Green will feast in the limelight.

PG/SG Tony Allen, Boston: The rash of injuries in Boston has also paved the way for Allen to enter the rotation in a loud way. The OSU product has started the last nine ballgames and is making his presence known with averages of 13.0 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.6 spg and 0.6 bpg. The good news is that he thrives in an up-and-down game, just the type of contests he'll be involved in during this four-game swing on the Left Coast, so look for an uptick in ppg, FG% and assists.

SF/PF Tim Thomas, LA Clippers: Tim Tom's place on this list was earned due to his spectacular effort in his most recent game. Consistency has always been a problem for Thomas, but with the confidence of starting and 20 points including 4-9 from deep, 6 rebounds and 2 steals in his latest effort, he could roll this week. Add in the extra motivation from facing his old squad the Knicks and Thomas will be running back on defense doing WWE superstar John Cena's "You Can't See Me" hand wave in front of his face more times than you care to see.

SG Eddie House, New Jersey: Most of the strongest fantasy basketball owners are ambulance chasers -- quickly acting on injuries by snapping up a player's backup, or in this case, his productivity backup. You see, either Jason Collins will slide over to center or C Mikki Moore will be promoted to start in light of C Nenad Krstic's season-ending ACL tear, but it's shooting guard Eddie House who will benefit most from the Serb's absence. On his seventh team in less than five years, House has a reputation for instant offense and isn't shy when it comes to hoisting up the rock. He got the start on Saturday and blew up for 22 points with an incredible 5 3PM, 5 rebounds, 4 dimes and 3 thefts. Those stats are probably the high end for what to expect, but don't be surprised if he starts taking over with his aggressiveness on offense, not unlike SG Kevin Martin did in Sacramento last year. The man did drop 63 points in a game back at ASU. Look for strong point, 3PM and steal totals this week.

Matt Satten is the Senior Basketball Editor at ProFantasySports.com. He has been writing professionally about fantasy basketball for seven years and is a member of the FSWA. Email him with any comments, questions or criticism at msatten@gmail.com.