Merry Christmas! I hope everyone enjoyed the day, and enjoyed the basketball on offer, and despite the blowouts, we still had some very interesting performances, albeit minus a few injured stars. Let's unwrap today's action in the Box Score Breakdown.

FUNAKI

Steven Adams was flat out dominant against the Spurs. He was bullying Tim Duncan down low and put up a super impressive line of 16 points (5-8 FG, 6-12 FT), 15 rebounds, one assist, two steals, and three blocks in 31 minutes. It was Adams' fourth double-double this season, which when compared with his predecessor, Kendrick Perkins, who has three in his entire Thunder career, looks superb. Adams has played in excess of 30 minutes in three of the past four games, and grabbed at least 10 rebounds in all four of those games. There is no way that Perkins reclaims the starting job, sorry, ot even Scott Brooks can stuff this up, and as Adams becomes more comfortable, his fantasy value will rise. Owned in just 10 percent of ESPN leagues and 17 percent of Yahoo leagues, Adams is a guy who can have standard league relevance going forward, so you need to cast your eyes toward the big Kiwi.

M.I.A.

These guys all sat out Thursday's action, for one reason or another.

• Wizards
  • Martell Webster (back)
• Knicks
  • Andrea Bargnani (hamstring)
  • J.R. Smith (heel)
  • Iman Shumpert (shoulder)
• Thunder
  • Jeremy Lamb (DNP-CD)
  • Nick Collison (DNP-CD)
  • Kevin Durant (ankle)
• Spurs
  • Kawhi Leonard (hand)
  • Boris Diaw (illness)
• Heat
  • Shabazz Napier (DNP-CD)
  • Chris Bosh (calf)
  • James Ennis (DNP-CD)
• Lakers
  • Kobe Bryant (rest)
• Bulls
  • Kirk Hinrich (hamstring)
• Warriors
  • Andrew Bogut (knee)
• Clippers
  • Spencer Hawes (knee)

FANTASY LINE OF THE NIGHT

If Russell Westbrook isn't right up in the MVP conversation, then people are having the wrong conversation. He basically willed the Thunder to the victory over the Spurs, scoring 34 points (14-28 FG, 0-1 3Pt, 6-8 FT) with five rebounds, 11 assists, and five steals in 35 minutes. Early in the week Westbrook acknowledged that his three-point shooting was poor and he needed to cut down on them. Today, just the one shot from deep, an additional sign of his maturity and improved shot selection. Even when Kevin Durant has played this season, Westbrook has looked like the best player on the team and is easily returning top 10 value this season. It doesn't hurt that he is perhaps the best player to watch in the entire league.

CASUALTY WARD

Kyrie Irving went down at the very end of the Cavaliers and Heat matchup, but the Cavs are calling it a knee contusion. Irving won't need an MRI, but with Cleveland on deck again Friday, his availability has to be in doubt. If he misses, Matthew Dellavedova would likely start, but it could be Dion Waiters who gains the most value.

ROTATION NOTES AND QUIRKS

Nene regained his spot in the starting lineup for the Wizards, at the expense of Kris Humphries, but ended up playing just 24 minutes compared with Humphries' 29. If this distribution keeps up, neither guy has much value in 12 team leagues. Nene scored just 12 points with two rebounds, while Humphries had 14 points and six boards.

Amar'e Stoudemire returned after two games rest, but played just 22 minutes with Jason Smith and Cole Aldrich playing 24 and 22 minutes respectively. I'd expect Stoudemire, who had six points, seven rebounds and one block, to play more moving forward, but the interesting guy to me is Aldrich, who had 10 points, four rebounds and one block in his court time. It wouldn't shock me if became the full-time starter over Samuel Dalembert at some stage in the next month.

After playing just 10 seconds Tuesday, Jeremy Lamb didn't even step onto the court. So much for Merry Christmas. Even with no Durant, Brooks didn't go to the young guard and his fantasy value is dead in the water.

Marco Belinelli replaced Kyle Anderson in the starting lineup in place of Kawhi Leonard, effectively ending any sort of value Anderson may have had. He played just eight minutes but failed to register a single stat. Belinelli himself wasn't great, scoring just seven points, with two steals and one block.

Matt Bonner played a season-high 32 minutes, dropping 17 points with three triples. I wouldn't expect that too often.

With Anderson Varejao out for the season, many, myself included, thought Tristan Thompson would get the start, but instead, coach David Blatt moved Kevin Love to center and started Shawn Marion at power forward. Given the Cavs were soundly beaten by the undermanned Heat, it may not stay that way for long, but Thompson did get 26 minutes to Marion's 19. Thompson grabbed nine boards with a steal and a block and figures to gain the most value from Varejao's injury moving forward.

No Kobe Bryant, so Wayne Ellington got another start, scoring 12 points in 35 minutes. Mimicking Kobe, Ellington went 5-for-12 from the field and he's not someone to add in fantasy league.

Taj Gibson played under 20 minutes for the third consecutive game, effectively splitting time with Nikola Mirotic. If this continues, it's very hard to own either guy in standard leagues, despite the occasional productive night, such as Mirotic's 13 points, three three-pointer, seven rebound performance in 15 minutes.

With no Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli, Marreese Speights got the start and played 22 minutes, scoring 11 points with little else. Speights' value doesn't change much from what it was before, despite the starting nod.

David Lee played just 19 minutes, his third game under 20 minutes since his return. He's been productive, but it's hard to own him with such little playing time, especially considering Bogut needs to be reincorporated.into the rotation.

BOX SCORE HIGHLIGHTS AND ODDITIES

Bradley Beal was surprisingly productive across the box score, netting 17 points with five rebounds, five assists and one steal. He needs more lines like this to be considered a top 50 fantasy talent.

Carmelo Anthony did all he could to help the Knicks win, but it was to no avail, dropping 34 points in the losing effort. The minutes are high, but the fear about his knee remains. I would be trying to sell like crazy now that he has strung together a couple of solid nights in a row.

Perry Jones had 14 points with two three-pointers in his best game since his return from his knee injury. Don't buy into it though, there's little fantasy value long-term in Jones.

Manu Ginobili had a season-high 13 assists off the bench in just 25 minutes. That's back-to-back double-digit dime games for Ginobili and if you can bear the rest, his production has been as good as it's been in recent memory, averaging 7.7 assists in his last six games, with 15.8 points to boot. In a roto league, with a bench or a weekly league, Ginobili is a very handy addition.

LeBron James hit only 10 of his 18 free throw attempts in his return to Miami, but overall finished with 30 points and eight assists. Irving added 25 points, while Kevin Love struggled again with just 14 points and five rebounds. At this point, expecting improvement from Love feels like a lost cause.

Luol Deng had a big night of 25 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. He will have off nights, but he's more like Chicago Deng, than Cleveland Deng this season and has stepped up his game with Chris Bosh out. He's not on waiver-wires, but if you could parlay this hot form into another top 50 player, I think that's a good move.

Chris Andersen had 12 points, eight rebounds, two steals and one block in another start and it's not a crazy thought to think he will stay there, even when Bosh returns, pushing Shawne Williams to the bench. If that happens, Andersen could have 12 team value.

Once again, with no Bryant, the Lakers spread around the scoring. Ed Davis (13), Wes Johnson (19), Jordan Hill (16), Carlos Boozer (14) and Ellington (12) scored in double-digits, while Ronnie Price added eight dimes and three steals. Remember, this is without Kobe. We may get one or two more games like this, but once Bryant returns, the chucking will be back and the rest of the squad's value will nosedive.

Joakim Noah's poor season continued, scoring just four points with 12 rebounds and two assists. At this point, this is what Noah will be this season and owners need to adjust to the fact.

Draymond Green put to bed concerns of the impact of Lee's return, scoring 10 points with 10 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks in 34 minutes. Proceed as you were.

Jamal Crawford led the game in scoring, hitting four triples to finish with 28 points and the Clippers continue to run basically a six man rotation, with the remaining bench players being largely inconsequential, at least in fantasy terms. Outside of the top six guys, the rest of the Clippers contributed four points, two rebounds and three assists.

NIGHTLY LEADERS

Points

1. Russell Westbrook, G, OKC, 34 points
2. Carmelo Anthony, F, NYK, 34 points
3. Dwyane Wade, G, MIA, 31 points

Rebounds

1. Steven Adams, C, OKC, 15 rebounds
2. Blake Griffin, F, LAC, 15 rebounds
3. Ed Davis, F, LAL, 14 rebounds

Assists

1. Manu Ginobili, G, SAS, 13 assists
2. Russell Westbrook, G, OKC, 11 assists
3. John Wall, G, WAS, 11 assists

Steals

1. Russell Westbrook, G, OKC, 5 steals
2. Chris Paul, G, LAC, 3 steals
3. Ronnie Price, G, LAL, 3 steals
4. Dion Waiters, G, CLE, 3 steals

Blocks

1. Steven Adams, C, OKC, 3 blocks
2. Ed Davis, F, LAL, 3 blocks
3. Pau Gasol, F, CHI, 2 blocks
4. Jimmy Butler, G, CHI, 2 blocks
5. DeAndre Jordan, C, LAC, 2 blocks
6. Draymond Green, F, GSW, 2 blocks
7. Marcin Gortat, C, WAS, 2 blocks
8. Dion Waiters, G, CLE, 2 blocks
9. Robert Sacre, C, LAL, 2 blocks

Three-Pointers

1. Jamal Crawford, G, LAC, 4-10 3Pt
2. Serge Ibaka, F, OKC, 3-4 3Pt
3. Matt Bonner, F, SAS, 3-8 3Pt
4. Anthony Morrow, F, OKC, 3-5 3Pt
5. Nikola Mirotic, F, CHI, 3-7 3Pt
6. Rasual Butler, G, WAS, 3-6 3Pt
7. J.J. Redick, G, LAC, 3-7 3Pt

Minutes

1. Carmelo Anthony, F, NYK, 43 minutes
2. Jimmy Butler, G, CHI, 42 minutes
3. Kyrie Irving, G, CLE, 42 minutes