Expect young Wesley Matthews to fill in the interim alongside Andre Miller. The Trailblazers like Matthews’s length on the perimeter and his streaky scoring ability which has produced four games of 13 points or more off of Portland’s bench. Once Roy returns it wouldn’t be unreasonable for Portland to give him ample time to recover and thus delegating more minutes to Matthews. 

About 600 miles down California’s interstate 5 we see a similar situation for the Golden State Warriors whose star forward David Lee has missed the past week due to an elbow laceration. Lee suffered the injury after connecting with New York’s Wilson Chandler who lost two teeth in the incident but Lee is expected to make his return this weekend. 

Unlike Brandon Roy’s recurring injury, Lee shouldn’t feel any affects of the injured elbow as the season progresses so expect him to return back to his double-double form as the Warriors chase a coveted playoff seed in the highly competitive Western Conference. 

As if the loss of Lebron James wasn’t enough to crush the hopes of Cleveland Cavaliers fans, the groin injury suffered by star-by-default Mo Williams has shelved the guard once again. This same groin injury sidelined Williams for most of the pre-season so the Cavs may need to look for alternative options since there is no timetable for his return. This should open opportunities for players like Ramon Sessions who’s seeing steady floor time at 26 MPG and Daniel Gibson who’s outside shooting has opened the floor for Cleveland’s post players. 

In competition with the Cavaliers in the NBA’s central division is the Chicago Bulls whose offense hasn’t skipped a beat since their newest star Carlos Boozer broke his hand before the start of the season. The Bulls currently rank fifth in team scoring and Joakim Noah seems to have assumed the role of capable scorer and elite rebounder. Where does Carlos Boozer fit into the equation upon his December return? Boozer has long been one of the better face-up shooting big men in the league so don’t expect him to struggle to find his points even after the recovery from a broken hand.