Dating back to 1973-74 when blocks became an official stat, Shawn Bradley has the highest career block percentage at 7.83 percent. Block percentage estimates the rate of two-point field goals a player blocks while on the floor. The Knicks' Mitchell Robinson tallied his 27th game with at least three blocks in a win over the Bulls last night, fourth most in the NBA this season.
Robinson's block percentage this season is 10.6 percent, the best in the league for any player with more than 1,200 minutes this season and a rate rivaled over full seasons by only Manute Bol and Bradley. The Knicks' Luke Kornet netted a career-high 24 points in the win. That reads somewhat like an outlier performance, while Robinson is the real fantasy gem from this young Knicks roster.
Learning under DeAndre Jordan to be a devastating roll man is a good plan for this impressive rookie. I can envision Robinson putting up wildly efficient scoring complemented by league-leading block potential if he earns a starting role for the Knicks down the line. For now, Robinson is rostered in just one-third of ESPN leagues and yet can single-handedly shift a weekly matchup with his block production.
Monday recap
Highlights
Andre Drummond, Detroit Pistons: 18 points (8-18 FG), 17 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, 3 TO
Al Horford, Boston Celtics: 19 points (7-13 FG), 11 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 TO
Kemba Walker, Charlotte Hornets: 47 points (15-28 FG), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 TO
Lowlights
Miles Bridges, Charlotte Hornets: 0 points (0-5 FG), 5 rebounds, 2 TO
Cedi Osman, Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 points (1-12 FG), 3 assists
Pascal Siakam, Toronto Raptors: 6 points (2-9 FG), 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 TO
Monday takeaways
• Walker had nine points at the half in Salt Lake Monday night, but delivered 38 in the second half, the most points he's scored in any half of his career. The rest of the Hornets starters combined for six points in the final two quarters. The Hornets have now lost three straight games and sit three games back of the final playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. Walker has enjoyed a career season in Charlotte, pushing his scoring average to 25 PPG after years of hovering in the 23 range. It will be riveting to see if Walker earns third-team All-NBA honors, which would make him eligible for a massive five-year extension from the Hornets ahead of an uncertain free-agency period.
• Bam Adebayo produced 19 points and 14 boards in another brilliantly efficient outing for the Heat. While Miami didn't get the win in Boston on Monday, it got further confirmation of how special this emergent young center is. Since the start of March, Adebayo has averaged 11.8 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 3.3 APG and 1.9 combined blocks and steals, starting all 16 games during this sample. Adebayo is still available in free agency in roughly 65 percent of ESPN leagues.
• Danny Green enjoyed the rare big offensive outburst on Monday, finishing as the top fantasy scorer among shooting guards on DraftKings thanks to making 11 of 15 shots for 29 points in a win over the Magic. This marks the second-most points in a game in Green's career (he scored 33 in April 2014 with the Spurs). Green also unsurprisingly netted three blocks, as he's one of the better backcourt options for atypical block production.
• The Suns' Josh Jackson joined the block party with five swats and a double-double off the pine in a win over the Cavs. Jackson's season has been decidedly inconsistent, but it's worth noting he finished last season very strong and can be trusted for heavy minutes in this final handful of games.
• Portland has impressively continued to play well even after losing two of its three best players to injury in the past few weeks. With the win over the Timberwolves, the Blazers are now tied with the Rockets for third place in the West and own the tiebreaker for seeding. Damian Lillard needs just 17 points to reach 2,000 for the season, meaning he'll soon join Clyde Drexler as only the players in franchise history with multiple 2,000-point seasons.
Injury of note
Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to action after missing some time with an ankle ailment. It's good to note the MVP candidate looked like, well, an MVP candidate last night. One thing to watch is the Bucks' magic number to secure the best record in the league is just one, so we could see Antetokounmpo and the team's veteran stars rest the final few games.
Analytics advantage for Tuesday
Atlanta's John Collins is doubtful to play, but it appears it's merely load management, as the cool kids like to say. Collins has been a force on the glass and as an efficient scoring option in Atlanta, so in his place, I like shares of Alex Len as a streaming option in redraft leagues and as a target in DFS play. The analytics angle is that Collins has averaged 18.4 rebounding chances per game this season, just behind Jusuf Nurkic and just ahead of Nikola Jokic and Deandre Ayton, for some context of how impressive his opportunity rate on the boards has been this season. A rebounding chance is defined as being within 3.5 feet of an available rebound, so it's a measure of volume in the sense of minutes played and pace, given more possessions equals more shots. The Hawks lead the league in pace at 104.5 possessions per 48 minutes. With Len expected to get a lot of work in Collins' place, he's in a great spot to deliver a double-double.
Top players to watch tonight
In just a four-game schedule tonight, we'll want to identify a few superstars to build lineups around for those interested in playing DFS into the twilight of the NBA marathon. The good news is that every game has a total of at least 220 points, indicating a relatively healthy, if limited, slate. I'm looking to Russell Westbrook to lead the way against a LeBron-less Lakers team. With the Thunder favored by 12.5 points, there is some blowout potential in place, but I'm not sure that will matter much when it comes to getting 60 points in your lineup from this triple-double machine. Pairing Westbrook and Len in lineups helps to offset the premium for the former's cost certainty.
