It feels like an eon since I've written the Box Score Breakdown, but here I am, returning on a night where Markel Brown played 45 minutes and totalled four blocks in his first NBA start. What sort of league did I return to?

AVERY GOOD PERFORMANCE

The Celtics changed up their backcourt rotation over the trade deadline, bringing in Isaiah Thomas to sure up the point guard position, but it's been the starting shooting guard, Avery Bradley, who has been igniting of late. Against the Suns, Thomas' former team, Bradley went ballistic, scoring 23 points (8-14 FG, 3-4 3Pt, 4-4 FT) with four rebounds, three assists, and six steals in just 29 minutes. He's only owned in 63 percent of Yahoo leagues, meaning that he's around in a lot of leagues. But, a guy averaging 3.3 steals, 2.3 three-pointers and 20.5 points in his last four games deserves a higher ownership. It hasn't just been the last week that he's improved, though. He's been a solid fantasy contributor over the last two months and has almost zero competition for his minutes. He's worth an add if his strengths suit what you need.

M.I.A.

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

• 76ers
  • Jerami Grant (back)
• Raptors
  • Patrick Patterson (knee)
• Pelicans
  • Ryan Anderson (knee)
  • Anthony Davis (shoulder)
  • Jrue Holiday (leg)
• Bucks
  • Michael Carter-Williams (toe)
• Bulls
  • Kirk Hinrich (illness)
  • Taj Gibson (illness)
• Timberwolves
  • Anthony Bennett (ankle)
  • Gary Neal (ankle)
  • Kevin Garnett (personal)
• Rockets
  • Patrick Beverley (illness)
  • Dwight Howard (knee)
• Nets
  • Bojan Bogdanovic (ankle)
  • Jarrett Jack (hamstring)
• Nuggets
  • Wilson Chandler (groin)
• Celtics
  • Jonas Jerebko (DNP-CD)
  • Kelly Olynyk (ankle)
• Suns
  • Gerald Green (DNP-CD)
• Grizzlies
  • Vince Carter (foot)
• Clippers
  • Blake Griffin (elbow)

FANTASY LINE OF THE NIGHT

James Harden. Again. The MVP front-runner scored 31 points with five three-pointers, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, one steal and four blocks for his fourth career triple-double. Not only is he the favorite to lift the MVP in the NBA, he's close to the number one player in fantasy as well. There is almost nothing that Harden can't do, but if you own him, you know that already.

ROTATION NOTES AND QUIRKS

Luc Mbah a Moute returned for a one-game absence to start and play 30 minutes, scoring just seven points with five rebounds. His value remains static, and that is, outside of the purview of standard leagues. Newly signed Ism Smith took over the backup point guard role from Tim Frazier, and dished seven assists in his 24 minutes. While he won't overtake Isaiah Canaan, deep league players are alway crying out for assists and back up point guards will give you that, so you need to be aware that Smith is now that in Philadelphia.

Henry Walker (formerly Bill Walker), made his first appearance of the season after recently being called up from the D-League and immediately played 21 minutes for 10 points with three three-pointers. Don't get too excited, as he's on a 10-day contract, but he limited Tyler Johnson to just three minutes.

With Patrick Patterson (knee) out, Dwane Casey was forced to give his best big men, big minutes. It may be a novel concept to Casey, but it helped fantasy owners, as Jonas Valanciunas had 17 points, 14 rebounds, two steals and one block and Amir Johnson swiped two steals with six rebounds, as both guys topped 35 minutes. Valanciunas has been superb, even with his minutes being capped by Casey's whims, and all he needs are big minutes to be a star center.

Anthony Davis and Ryan Anderson were both out, so Dante Cunningham rejoined the starting lineup, playing 31 minutes and doing his usual nothing, grabbing six rebounds and five points. Alexis Ajinca benefitted the most, adding 16 points with nine rebounds and one block and should be a nice short term add while Davis and Anderson are sidelined.

Ersan Ilyasova replaced Jared Dudley in the starting lineup, and had his best game of the season, scoring 15 points with 11 rebounds, one steal, one block and three three-pointers. Given Ersan's ability to blow up big, adding him speculatively is not a horrible move, but there is about a 10 percent chance it pays off. If it hits, it could hit big, but don't push all your chips in for the big Turk. His season has been less than stellar so far, averaging 8.8 points and 3.7 rebounds, but his per-36 numbers of 17.7 points and 7.4 rebounds are enticing. Watch this space.

Nikola Mirotic took advantage of Taj Gibson's absence, double-doubling with 16 points, 14 rebounds and a pair of three-pointers and blocks. Mirotic is hard to own outside of 16 team leagues given his long-term role, but he oozes fantasy potential for the future. Tony Snell played 31 minutes compared with Mike Dunleavy's 20 minutes and looked very good, scoring 20 points with four triples. I wouldn't add Snell in most leagues.

Adreian Payne made his first career start with Kevin Garnett still unavailable and Anthony Bennett ailing and notched a double-double of 11 points with 10 rebounds and one block. He's shown nothing so far in his career, so I wouldn't get too excited, but in the deepest league, he's probably available and may be interesting while Bennett is out.

Terrence Jones rejoined the Rockets' starting lineup at the expense of Joey Dorsey, adding 15 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks. It probably goes without saying that you want to add Jones if he's available. Jason Terry also started, with Patrick Beverley sick but that's not a long term move.

As I mentioned in the open, Markel Brown made his first career start and played 45 minutes, notching a huge stat line of 10 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and four blocks. I am almost at a loss with the Nets' rotation, but I will say this - Jarrett Jack and Bojan Bogdanovic were both out, partially forcing Lionel Hollins to run Brown so many minutes. Still, it was an odd starting five, consisting three two-guards. I'm not adding Brown outside of deep leagues.

Mason Plumlee started, but played just 16 minutes, scoring 14 points with five rebounds and his form has not been great. If you can afford to hold, I would, but I'm not above dropping Plumlee, when Hollins is clearly favoring Brook Lopez. Thaddeus Young remained on the bench, playing 24 minutes, but was still valuable, scoring 15 points with five rebounds and two steals and one block.

Kenneth Faried moved to the bench, replaced by Darrell Arthur, in the surest sign that Brian Shaw is trying to get fired. Faried played only 13 minutes and ended with four points and five rebounds. He's droppable in standard leagues in my opinion, but I wouldn't be adding Arthur in his place. Gary Harris also entered the starting lineup, playing 26 minutes for an injured Wilson Chandler, scoring 10 points. I'm not adding Harris as it's likely Chandler is back soon, but it's interesting that he got the nod over Randy Foye, who if you added after the Arron Afflalo trade, you can drop.

Brandon Knight made his first start for Phoenix, playing 34 minutes next to Eric Bledsoe and it looks like he'll be okay moving forward, scoring 20 points with a quartet of three-pointers and assists. Gerald Green was removed from the starting lineup and the rotation as a whole and he has zero standard league value.

The Spurs looked very un-Spurs like, but we shouldn't read anything into their rotation in the loss to Utah.

BOX SCORE HIGHLIGHTS AND ODDITIES

Nerlens Noel and Robert Covington are the best players left on the Sixers and you need to make sure they are owned in your league. Five steals to Covington, four blocks to Noel and Hollis Thompson added six three-pointers, but I wouldn't be relying on Thompson to be this good regularly.

Goran Dragic added 10 assists in his second game for the Heat and his fantasy owners should reap the benefits in the second half of the season. Luol Deng should also be better without Chris Bosh around, but I wouldn't expect 29 points and four three-pointers too often.

Norris Cole had 15 points and six assists in his second game in a Pelicans uniform, but I'm not convinced that he is a viable fantasy option. He's still a backup at best and his name should only be on the radar for deeper league owners.

Jerryd Bayless started again for Milwaukee, but with Michael Carter-Williams all but certain to suit up Wednesday, Bayless' value will drop dramatically. He had eight points, eight rebounds and five assists in 32 minutes, but that will end.

Derrick Rose shot the ball in a disgusting manner, hitting just one of his 13 shots, ending the night with eight points. Over his last 28 games, Rose has shot 39 percent, with also only 0.8 steals per game. His scoring is nice, but Rose doesn't help in enough areas to be considered a top fantasy option. Even though he's playing, his production doesn't match the name value and I'd be trying to trade him away before your league's deadline, which is rapidly approaching.

Even though Terrence Jones went off, Josh Smith was still a great fantasy play Monday. He scored 17 points with two triples, adding three assists, three steals and one block and has really turned his game around since arriving in Texas.

Deron Williams added 12 assists and is now averaging 10.3 assists in his past three games. While Lionel Hollins is difficult to predict, let's hope that Deron remains as the starter, as he should be, because he is clearly the better player, despite his injury concerns.

Danilo Gallinari scored 22 points with three three-pointers and is now averaging 16.0 points, 2.7 three-pointers and 2.0 steals since moving into the starting five post-Afflalo trade. He should be owned in all leagues at this point.

Further to the Kenneth Faried point, the following players played more minutes than Faried on Monday - Gallinari, Will Barton, Ty Lawson, Joffrey Lauvergne, Jusuf Nurkic, Darrell Arthur, Gary Harris, Erick Green and Randy Foye. Just wanted to point out how far Faried has fallen off.

Alex Len blocked six shots for the second time in his last three games. In those three games, he's also grabbed double-digit boards and should be owned universally.

Rudy Gobert scored just seven points, but his 14 rebounds, two steals and three blocks are exactly want you want from him. Trey Burke  added 23 empty points off the bench, but if you want that category, the Jazz don't have many guys capable of scoring in bunches, so Burke has a significant role moving forward while Dante Exum learns the role.

NIGHTLY LEADERS

Points

1. James Harden, G, HOU, 31 points
2. Chris Paul, G, LAC, 30 points
3. Andrew Wiggins, G, MIN, 30 points

Rebounds

1. DeAndre Jordan, C, LAC, 17 rebounds
2. Joakim Noah, C, CHI, 16 rebounds
3. Terrence Jones, F, HOU, 15 rebounds

Assists

1. Deron Williams, G, BKN, 12 assists
2. Tyreke Evans, G, NOP, 12 assists
3. James Harden, G, HOU, 10 assists
4. Chris Paul, G, LAC, 10 assists
5. Goran Dragic, G, MIA, 10 assists
6. Eric Bledsoe, G, PHX, 10 assists
7. Ty Lawson, G, DEN, 10 assists

Steals

1. Avery Bradley, G, BOS, 6 steals
2. Robert Covington, F, PHI, 5 steals
3. Ricky Rubio, G, MIN, 4 steals
4. Trevor Ariza, F, HOU, 4 steals

Blocks

1. Alex Len, C, PHX, 6 blocks
2. James Harden, G, HOU, 4 blocks
3. Nerlens Noel, C, PHI, 4 blocks
4. Markel Brown, G, BKN, 4 blocks

Three-Pointers

1. Hollis Thompson, F, PHI, 6-9 3Pt
2. James Harden, G, HOU, 5-11 3Pt
3. Luol Deng, F, MIA, 4-5 3Pt
4. Luke Babbitt, F, NOP, 4-5 3Pt
5. Tony Snell, F, CHI, 4-6 3Pt
6. Jae Crowder, F, BOS, 4-9 3Pt
7. Brandon Knight, G, PHX, 4-11 3Pt

Minutes

1. Markel Brown, G, BKN, 45 minutes
2. Andrew Wiggins, G, MIN, 41 minutes
3. Eric Gordon, G, NOP, 41 minutes