Four Games

Celtics

The Celtics, quite simply, are dominating. They have a 17-game winning streak, an overall 24-2 record, and the energy they play with on a nightly basis is addictive. The best start in NBA history with two losses is 26-2, a record Boston can break next Thursday against (who else?) the Lakers. Seriously, there isn't much else to say right now...the starting five continues to get the job done, Rondo continues to play like an All-Star and the bench chips in exactly what is needed. Kendrick Perkins deserves a mention for his career-high 25 points on 12-of-15 shooting in Friday's win over the Bulls.

Warriors

Don Nelson, tearing a page out of the NFL handbook, has named assistant coach Keith Smart the team's new "defensive coordinator". Fellow assistant coach Sidney Moncrief will be Smart's "assistant defensive coordinator".

"I'm still the head coach, but we'll make decisions together," said Nelson. "I've decided to identify one of my weaknesses at this point in my life. I'm not tough enough anymore. I'm soft as I get older. I feel like I haven't done a very good job defensively this year." This unorthodox move has been widely interpreted as a precursor to Nellie stepping down, despite the two years remaining on his contract. He has been grooming Smart to succeed him --much as he did with Avery Johnson in Dallas-- so it wouldn't be a startling transition.

Nellie also made headlines this week for reportedly saying to rookie Anthony Randolph, "You should start having your agent look into trades because this isn't working out."

Nellie denied that report. "I talked to (Randolph) about sitting down with his agent because he's got to work at practice, do some things to get better," Nelson recalled. Since when does a coach go to a player and request a sit-down with his agent in order to discuss that player's performance during practice? Draw your own conclusions on that one.

What is clear is that Golden State is a fantasy disaster. Jamal Crawford is all over the place. Stephen Jackson is out for at least three more games with a busted hand. Marco Belinelli exploded on Friday, but who can trust him in Nellie's rotations? Same goes for Brandan Wright, Anthony Morrow, Kelenna Azubuike, C.J. Watson...you get the idea.

Nuggets

One game after getting abused by Yao Ming, Nene finished Friday's game with one point, three rebounds, four fouls and two turnovers. Teams are adjusting to him after a strong start, and unless he gets some frontline support his numbers aren't likely to recover to their November levels.

J.R. Smith felt hyperbolic when asked what might have happened if the Nuggets retained Marcus Camby and still traded for Chauncey Billups. "We'd probably be blowing teams out by a hundred," Smith said. His instant-offense role is wearing thin for his owners, but he's been more consistent lately and coach Karl is considering moving him into the starting five. That would displace Dahntay Jones, who isn't valuable to fantasy owners anyway.

The problem is that Karl is still irked by Smith's wildness on the court. "I can handle his crazy shots, because he makes a lot of them, but it's his decisions with the lead that are very wasteful. Can you talk to him about getting the bad out of his game? The crazy?" Karl asked reporters. I'm assuming none of them volunteered.

Linas Kleiza is frequently mentioned as a trade target, most recently for the Knicks David Lee (which NY declined). The Nuggets want to keep him, but he is a restricted free agent and could play in Europe next season, making him a high-risk property.

Kenyon Martin continues to play despite having a sore left wrist, an injury George Karl feels could "be sore all year long". Keep him active and hope for the best, or seek to trade him while he's still producing.

Lakers

Luke Walton has moved into the starting lineup, but as long as he's limited to 20-25 minutes he's a risky fantasy option. The man he replaced, Vladimir Radmanovic, has basically fallen out of the rotation.

Lamar Odom notched his first double-double of the season filling in for Pau Gasol (strep throat). Gasol is back now, however, and Odom is back on the bench, so use him as you have been.

The Lakers depth is preserving Kobe for the playoffs, but it's not helping his fantasy value. For instance, he is attempting 19.5 shots per game, his fewest since 2003-2004, and 7.0 free throws per game, his fewest since 1999-2000.

Rockets

Yao Ming is on a tear, recently recording consecutive 30-point games for the first time since 2006-07. He is shooting 63% in December, averaging 25 points. "At the beginning of the season, I tried to get some clean shots," Yao said. "I didn't want contact. I think this month, or late last month, I started to try to use my body to try to get inside to draw the foul or draw the contact."

Tracy McGrady came back from his knee injury with a vengeance, nearly recording a triple-double and then, two games later, getting one. While his recent play is very encouraging, I'm still skeptical. This is the same guy who said, on November 16th, "Tonight I went back to square one, like before even surgery. Until further notice I'm going to have to shut it down." He then played an average of 31 minutes in the next four games...and then shut it down. It's pessimistic, sure, but I just don't have any faith in his long-term health.

Grizzlies

O.J. Mayo's streak of double-digit scoring games has been snapped, but he remains a rock-solid fantasy option, rare for a rookie.

Darko Milicic has moved into the starting lineup and has played well. Of course, the frontcourt could change after the Bobcats dismantled them in the paint on Friday. Marc Gasol continues to come off the bench but hasn't been worth starting recently.

Trail Blazers

The Blazers second unit --Travis Outlaw, Rudy Fernandez, Joel Przybilla, Sergio Rodriguez and Channing Frye-- has outscored the other team's bench 16 times this season, in which games Portland is 11-5.

Their bench is third in the league in points per game (36.2), second in rebounding (17.0 per game), third in assists (8.4 per game), sixth in blocks (2.4) and ninth in steals (2.9). Not surprisingly, they also lead the league in minutes played (98.2).

But the real story in Portland these days is Brandon Roy. "My confidence level is at an all-time high," Roy said recently. "That's the biggest difference. It's the mentality between the old Brandon and the new Brandon." The new Brandon, he argues, is getting the respect of the referees, to he point where other players "can't touch me anymore."

One conclusive statistic: Roy has scored 182 points in the last five games. That is the most in franchise history over a five-game stretch.

Spurs

Spurs guard Roger Mason Jr. is averaging 9.2 points in nine December games, down from 15.1 points in November. His field-goal percentage has dropped to 42% and his three-point shooting is at 35%. He continues to start, but is averaging nine fewer minutes since the return of Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. Other than that, everything is pretty much business as usual in San Antonio.

That conludes this edition of The Week Ahead. Does anyone have a guess as to who will be the first player fined for flopping? My money is on Varejao...not because he's the most egregious flopper out there, but his Sideshow Bob hair magnifies his otherwise standard flops.