Josh Howard will be out for two weeks because of a sprained left ankle. Howard was hurt in a game against the Golden State Warriors on Monday night. He will miss at least six games. Howard could be motivated to return to the lineup for the November 20 game against the Charlotte Bobcats, which will be played in his home state of North Carolina.

Steve Francis is day-to-day with a sprained ankle.  He hurt it when he landed on Bruce Bowen’s foot after taking a jump shot. Bruce Bowen is notorious for being a dirty player and has pulled this stunt before of not allowing the jump shooter to land after their shot.

Brandon Roy, the early favorite for Rookie of the Year, has been slowed by a heel injury. A precautionary MRI has revealed an impingement in the left heel but there was no major damage. Roy was given a cortisone shot to relieve the pain and will miss Wednesday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers. 

Fantasy Lowdown:

Howard will continue his streak of Ironman ineptness by missing games in all 4 seasons that he has been in the league. Greg Buckner will replace Howard in the starting lineup. Jerry Stackhouse will continue to come off the bench to play his familiar role as sixth man. The biggest fantasy winner could be Devin Harris. Harris now has a six-game window to strut his stuff as the starting SG. Buckner was the opening day SG and now will be preoccupied filling in for Howard. Harris in his last game as a starter pounded out 17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 2 three-pointers to boot. It helped that Jason Terry got ejected out of that game. Keep an eye on Devin during this extended audition in the 2 spot and snatch him up if he repeats his stat stuffing ways.

Francis has vowed that he will be playing in Wednesday’s game in Denver. Don’t be surprised if Francis takes a game off and suits up for Friday’s game in Houston. So consider Francis day-to-day.  If Francis misses any time then Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson will get extended burn. Side note: it will be interesting to see some of the Knicks players react after their benching in the second half of Monday’s game against San Antonio. Channing Frye, are you a fighter or a sulker?

It sounds like Roy will be day-to-day with a heel injury. This looks like this injury could be lingering and could force him to sit the odd game during the year. Keep an eye on his progress over the next couple of days. In the first week of the season, Roy has proved that he can ball with the big boys averaging 14.5 points, 3.5 boards and 4.3 assists. Let’s hope that this R-O-Y candidate will be back on the floor for Friday’s game against last year’s R-O-Y, Chris Paul.