NBA Fantasy Basketball Boxscore Breakouts from January 26

Jrue Holiday has emerged as an elite fantasy basketball option as he showcased last night against the Knicks. Find fantasy basketball sleepers and waiver wire options in our boscore breakouts.  Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Over the next few months, we’ll be taking a quick look at the daily boxscores to help out your fantasy hoops teams. The goal of this feature isn’t to highlight the greatness of Lebron or how many times Kobe can score 40 in  a Laker loss. You can find plenty of articles on stars elsewhere and chances are they are already locked up in your fantasy league.

Instead, we’ll be focusing on players stepping up, emerging from the shadows, and seizing their opportunity. Sometimes we’ll look at players who are available in many leagues making them solid waiver wire additions. Other times we’ll look at starters who are turning up the volume and stepping up to the next level.

Here’s a quick look at the boxscore breakouts from Saturday’s games:

Jrue Holiday-Philadelphia 76ers

Holiday has been one of the breakout players of the year so far. After being held under ten for the first time since November (in a game he played) his last time out, Holiday torched the Knicks for a career-high 35 points to go with six assists, five rebounds, a steal, and a three-pointer. The Sixers struggles this year have been well-documented but Holiday’s value all season has risen. He’s averaging 19 points, four rebounds, and nine assists per game. He’s emerged into the top tier of point guards from a mid-fifth round pick in most leagues at the start of the season. If you drafted him, you made a great call and are getting great value for that pick.

Chandler Parsons-Houston Rockets

Parsons is another talent that’s emerged this season as a value way above his draft position. He was going undrafted in many leagues at the beginning of the year, but has played a ton of minutes and become a key part of the Rockets lineup.His shot can still be inconsistent at times, but he fills the stat sheet almost every time out. Last night against Brooklyn he scored 16 while dishing 11 assists and adding six board, a block, and a steal. The former Gator is a nice role player and provides a unique but very useful stat line.

Jan 25, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Milwaukee Bucks center Larry Sanders (8) dunks beside Cleveland Cavaliers forward Marreese Speights (15) in the second quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Larry Sanders-Milwaukee Bucks

Larry Sanders is the big man who has broken through this season like Holiday and Parsons have although he came from an even more obscure beginning. Sanders was able to get his second double-double in a row last night and third in his last five games. He had 16 points, 11 boards, three blocks, and an assist extending his multi-block streak to an incredible 13 games. He’s averaged 3.5 blocks per game this month and is now getting the points and boards making him a must-start in all formats.

Jared Dudley-Phoenix Suns

Dudley’s value coud be hurt by the coaching change in Phoenix, but it didn’t look like it last night. He started against the Spurs and was able to make 10-12 from the field including three three-pointers to finish with 23 points. He added five assists, five rebounds, and a steal. He has disappeared from the last two Phoenix games but was at the forefront of the attack in this one. He’s available in 34% of ESPN leagues so keep an eye on his usage since his lines are solid when he gets the playing time.

Nick Young-Philadelphia 76ers

Young is known as a volume shooter and can absolutely kill your percentages, but when his shots are falling he can also prove a valuable asset. He got the start in place of the injured Jason Richardson last night and was able to get his second consecutive 20-point game while adding four assists, four rebounds, and a steal. He won’t always get 41 minutes of playing time like he did last night, but does give the Sixers some much-needed firepower. If you’re looking for scoring, he’s available in over 93% of ESPN leagues.

January 26, 2013; Toronto, ON, Canada; Toronto Raptors forward-guard Alan Anderson (6) goes up for a shot against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Air Canada Centre. Cleveland defeated Toronto 99-98. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Alan Anderson-Toronto Raptors

Another scorer I like is Alan Anderson who I highlighted him in my top 10 waiver wire pickups yesterday (click here for the full post). Anderson came off the bench last night and played 31 minutes against Cleveland tallying 17 points, three assists, two boards, and two steals. Anderson takes plenty of shots, but he’s on the wire if over 75% of ESPN leagues if you need scoring with some assists and steals mixed in.

Emeka Okafor-Washington Wizards

Okafor was one of the bigs I highlighted yesterday (waiver wire post) and he showed why once against last night as the Wizards knocked off the Bulls. He had a efficient 15 points to go with 16 rebounds and a pair of steals.  He’s averaged 13.2 rebounds in his last five games and has 12 or more in four of those contests. If you lost Anderson Varejao or are just hunting the wire for boards, check on Emeka who’s only owned in 44.4% of leagues.

Marreese Speights-Cleveland Cavaliers

If Okafor is spoken-for in your league or you want a slightly more obscure option, check out Speights. The Cavs acquired the former-Grizz big man and he looks like he’ll play a good-sized role coming off the bench. He finished yesterday with 17 points, five rebounds, a block, and a steal. He give the Cavs a bit more offense than starter Tyler Zeller although Zeller should see plenty of time as Cleveland tries to develop him. Speights has shown in flashes that he can get the job done on the glass when given the opportunity and he may have come to the Cavs at the right time to get a big chance to contribute to their success and your fantasy team. Right now, Speights is only owned in 0.2% of ESPN leagues.