Injuries to stars open up playing time for rookies

	Paul Millsap will get plenty of playing time with Andrei Kirilenko and Carlos Boozer hurt. Simon Bruty/SI

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

Sick and tired of the Super Bowl hype? If you said, "What Super Bowl?" then you're in the right place. The injuries are non-stop these days in the NBA, but The Lab has got you covered with replacement candidates, updated injury info and scheduling tips to get you through the week. Let's get right to it.

Here are the latest injury updates:
SF Andrei Kirilenko, Utah: Sprained ankle and swollen foot, will miss a few days this week
F/C Carlos Boozer, Utah: Knee pain; day-to-day and could miss some time
PG T.J. Ford, Toronto: Sprained ankle; day-to-day but is expected back this week
C Ben Wallace, Chicago: Mild knee sprain; day-to-day but could miss time this week
SF LeBron James, Cleveland: Sore toe; day-to-day and could miss a game or two at some point
PG Chris Paul, New Orleans: Sprained ankle, could play Friday
SF Luke Walton, L.A. Lakers: Sprained ankle, out 1-2 weeks
PG Jason Williams, Miami: Abdominal strain, day-to-day
SF Richard Jefferson, New Jersey: Ankle surgery, out indefinitely
C Shaquille O'Neal, Miami: Knee soreness, probably won't miss any time
PG Speedy Claxton, Atlanta: Knee injury, out indefinitely
SF Grant Hill, Orlando: Sore knees, could miss second game of back-to-back on Sun.
G/F Michael Redd, Milwaukee: Strained patellar tendon, out 3-5 weeks
SF Trevor Ariza, Orlando: Grade 2 sprained right MCL, out 6-8 weeks
PF Sean May, Charlotte: Knee pain; day-to-day and doubtful for consecutive games
SG Jason Richardson, Golden State: Broken hand, out 6-8 weeks
C Yao Ming, Houston: Broken leg, out 6-8 weeks
SG Rashard Lewis, Seattle: Finger surgery, earliest return could be Feb. 11, but more likely out until after the All-Star break.
G/F Paul Pierce, Boston: Stress reaction in foot, likely out until the All-Star break
F/C Kwame Brown, L.A. Lakers: Sprained ankle, doubtful to return this week
PG Brevin Knight, Charlotte: Sports hernia surgery, out 1-2 months

Of the players mentioned above, we would start James and Shaq for sure. We'd give consideration to starting Boozer (depending on his MRI results), Ford, May and possibly Wallace if you're thinner than Kate Moss at center. Reserve everyone else.

Here is the game count for Week 14:
Four games: ATL, CHA, CLE, DEN, DET, GSW, LAL, MIL, MIN, NOK, NJN, ORL, POR
Three games: BOS, CHI, DAL, HOU, IND, LAC, MEM, MIA, NYK, PHI, PHO, SAC, SEA, TOR, UTA, WAS
Two games: SAS

Of the four-game slates, there is none better than the Bobcats. The NBA's most recent expansion team is the lone squad facing three of the league's 10 worst defenses in Denver, New York and Golden State. It will be a minor miracle if Charlotte doesn't top 100 points in each of those games (the Bobcats also have a game at Cleveland, a top-10 team). Skip down to this week's Lineup Fixer Sixer for a recommendation that will have your head spinning and your team winning.

Other strong four-game slates belong to the Lakers and Magic, who each face two of the league's worst defenses and nary a top-10 defense in their other two games. The Lakers are on the road for all four of their games on a huge East Coast road trip, so we'll give the edge to the Magic who host three of their games this week.

The only other easy schedule this week is Indiana, which plays three games. The Pacers face the Lakers and Memphis at the end of the week after squaring off against a depleted Boston squad on Tuesday.

The hardest three-game schedules belong to Seattle and Phoenix, who each must play at least two top-10 Ds. Seattle actually has the worst schedule since all three games are against stellar defenses in matchups with Dallas, Houston and Chicago. Unless you own Ray Allen, we recommend sitting all of your Sonics.

Only Memphis and Houston play all of their games at home this week. Everyone else has at least one road game. Speaking of road games, the Lakers, Warriors, Bulls and Spurs are all on road trips this week. Since the Spurs are the lone team with just two games this week, it's tough to start anyone other than Tim Duncan, despite having one of the games against the Suns. Tony Parker could be started in deep leagues but that's a tough call with Pops wanting him to shoot less.