Things returned to normalcy somewhat Thursday, with less mind-bending performances than we dealt with yesterday. But the NBA is nothing if not a font of strange occurrences, and we had that once again Thursday. The Box Score Breakdown has more.

KANTERING

While all the hype in the Utah frontcourt has been focused, and rightly so, on second-year Frenchman, Rudy Gobert. But, in his past two games, their other foreign big man, Enes Kanter, has been strutting his sizeable stuff. Against the Bucks Kanter put up his second consecutive 20 points and 10 rebounds game, finishing with 23 points (8-15 FG, 1-2 3Pt, 6-6 FT), 16 rebounds, two steals and one block in a team high 36 minutes. Owned in just 61 percent of leagues on Yahoo, Kanter has solid value in most leagues, especially rotisserie formats due to his superb percentages. Currently converting at 50 percent from the field and 82 percent from the line, Kanter is almost without peer from the power forward position.

M.I.A.

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

• Spurs
  • Marco Belinelli (groin)
• Bulls
  • Mike Dunleavy (ankle)
  • Joakim Noah (ankle)
• Jazz
  • Rodney Hood (foot)
  • Derrick Favors (personal)
• Bucks
  • Larry Sanders (suspended)
• Trail Blazers
  • LaMarcus Aldridge (thumb)
  • Robin Lopez (hand)
• Nets
  • Kevin Garnett (rest)
  • Deron Williams (rib)

ROTATION NOTES AND QUIRKS

Reading anything into the Spurs and Bulls' box score is an exercise in folly, as the Bulls got a surprising blowout. No-one on the Spurs got over 27 minutes and Gregg Popovich threw in the towel very early on, which is understandable considering the Spurs play again Friday against the Lakers.

Tom Thibodeau didn't quite have the same thought process, although Derrick Rose did play just 27 minutes, but still led all scorers with 22 points, adding two three-pointers, five assists and two steals. Rose is playing the best basketball he has in the last three seasons, but I maintain that I would be wanting to sell high if possible. Try to target a Bulls fan who owns a slumping Kyle Lowry and see if you can pull off a steal. The game was that much of a blowout, that Jimmy Butler played just 28 minutes. It's hard to see any trends coming from this one.

The Jazz pulled the biggest shock of the night, announcing before tip that rookie Dante Exum would replace Trey Burke as the team's starting point guard. There is no word on if this is permanent, but Quin Snyder's words, stating he wants to bolster the second unit, seem to point that way. Exum played 35 minutes and hit a career-high five three-pointers for 15 points, adding five assists. Don't expect that too often, as Exum is hitting just 32 percent of his tries from outside the arc and his per-36 numbers of 9.2 points, 4.0 assists and 0.8 steals hardly inspire confidence that there will be much fantasy relevance for my fellow Australian. The worry lies with Burke. I'd give it a game or two to see how the rotation plays out, but if Burke keeps playing just 24 minutes in a reserve role, a drop should be forthcoming. He scored 10 points Thursday and owners should be preparing for the worst.

Rudy Gobert replaced Derrick Favors in the starting lineup, played 35 minutes and had 14 points with 10 rebounds, one steal and one block and continues to be a must-own player, despite the occasional game where his minutes will be limited.

Ersan Ilyasova replaced Johnny O'Bryant in the starting lineup, and in true Jason Kidd fashion, he played O'Bryant more minutes off the bench than Ilyasova. Weirdly, this was just the second game in O'Bryant's career that he has come off the bench. Ilyasova had seven points, two steals and one block in his 17 minutes and has the chance to be a solid second-half contributor, if you can deal with Kidd's seemingly random rotational decisions.

Speaking of seemingly random rotational decisions, Brandon Bass moved into the Celtics' starting lineup, replacing Tyler Zeller. Bass was impressive, it must be said, scoring 13 points with 10 rebounds and five assists, adding a steal and a block, but with Brad Stevens' fickle nature, he's not someone to add in mos standard leagues. Kelly Olynyk, the player who I would've preferred in the starting lineup, sprained his ankle and is likely out throughout the weekend, making Bass a interesting short-term option as his, along with Jared Sullinger's minutes are all but locked in due solely to available players for the Celtics. Even Brad Stevens can't get that wrong, or can he?

Jae Crowder and Marcus Smart both gave us consistent minutes - Crowder with 15 and Smart with 27, telling us a lot about both players. Crowder has almost zero value, while Smart, despite his struggles Thursday, has a fairly stable role at the moment and has significant upside in standard leagues, particularly in head-to-head formats.

Terry Stotts appears to be playing matchups with his replacement for LaMarcus Aldridge, starting Thomas Robinson on Thursday after running Dorell Wright 35 minutes Wednesday. Robinson added two steals and two blocks along with 12 rebounds in his 28 minutes, but if Stotts is going to chop and change, it's impossible to pin down a guy to add, outside of Chris Kaman, whose value just increased again.

If the Spurs and Bulls game should be disregarded due to a lopsided score, I don't know what to do with the Nets and Clippers. The Clippers at one point had an 80-40 lead over the Nets, so as a result minutes were distributed in a unusual way. There are zero conclusions you can draw from the minutes alloted in this game, so don't try too hard. You'll hurt yourself.

BOX SCORE HIGHLIGHTS AND ODDITIES

Despite the general struggles of the Spurs, Danny Green still added two blocks, keeping his season average above one per game, which is incredible for a guard. His name sake, newly signed JaMychal Green also added a couple of swats, but I doubt I'll be writing about him again this season.

Gordon Hayward led the Jazz with 24 points and added six rebounds and six assists and has been a consistently reliable source of stats this season. Joe Ingles added seven assists in his 32 minutes and has now averaged 3.9 dimes in his last seven games, in 24 minutes er contest. While not on standard leagues radars just yet, 14 team owners need to start paying attention to the Jazz's other portion of their new All-Aussie backcourt, as the minutes will likely remain at least until the All-Star break when Rodney Hood may be ready to come back.

Giannis Antetokounmpo now has 10 steals in his last three games after Thursday's five steal bonanza and is a reliable source of fantasy stats this season, especially if you are punting the points category. His potential is almost limitless.

Evan Turner was productive again, scoring 10 points with six rebounds and eight assists and at this point is almost a must-own in 12 team leagues. Although Marcus Smart is destined to take over the point guard role, Crowder's less than stellar play at the three means Turner can easily slide across and continue producing, which is what happens on most nights. Turner is very inefficient though, so bear that in mind when clicking the add button.

Damian Lillard had to shoulder extra responsibility, especially when Nicolas Batum left the game after spraining his wrist again. Batum could miss some time as this is a re-injury on the wrist that has been bothering him. Lillard scored 21 points on 23 shots, but did add six rebounds, seven assists and two steals and is going to have to be even more of a superman moving forward.

Meyers Leonard got 25 minutes off the bench, adding seven points, six rebounds, one steal and one block and is a deep league option with Aldridge sidelined. He does fall into the Wright/Robinson category, in that you can't rely on him in standard leagues.

Brook Lopez started with Kevin Garnett rested but failed to capitalise, scoring just four points with one rebound. The game was an affront to basketball though, so I'd like to remove all memories of it from my subconscious.

Chris Paul had 17 assists, his highest total of the season, in just 24 minutes, his lowest total of the season. Yes, the Nets were that bad.

NIGHTLY LEADERS

Points

1. Blake Griffin, F, LAC, 24 points
2. Gordon Hayward, F, UTA, 24 points
3. Enes Kanter, F, UTA, 23 points

Rebounds

1. Pau Gasol, F, CHI, 17 rebounds
2. Enes Kanter, F, UTA, 16 rebounds
3. DeAndre Jordan, C, LAC, 12 rebounds

Assists

1. Chris Paul, G, LAC, 17 assists
2. Jerryd Bayless, G, MIL, 9 assists
3. Evan Turner, G, BOS, 8 assists

Steals

1. Giannis Antetokounmpo, F, MIL, 5 steals
2. Chris Paul, G, LAC, 3 steals
3. Alan Anderson, G, BKN, 3 steals
4. Jarrett Jack, G, BKN, 3 steals

Blocks

1. Taj Gibson, F, CHI, 4 blocks
2. Spencer Hawes, C, LAC, 3 blocks
3. Pau Gasol, F, CHI, 2 blocks
4. DeAndre Jordan, C, LAC, 2 blocks
5. Thomas Robinson, F, POR, 2 blocks
6. Danny Green, G, SAS, 2 blocks
7. JaMychal Green, F, SAS, 2 blocks
8. Kelly Olynyk, C, BOS, 2 blocks

Three-Pointers

1. Dante Exum, G, UTA, 5-10 3Pt
2. Wesley Matthews, G, POR, 4-8 3Pt
3. J.J. Redick, G, LAC, 3-4 3Pt
4. Jared Dudley, F, MIL, 3-5 3Pt

Minutes

1. Taj Gibson, F, CHI, 37 minutes
2. Wesley Matthews, G, POR, 37 minutes
3. Enes Kanter, F, UTA, 36 minutes