RADIO
Leonard Francis II highlights three fantasy basketball takeaways from the NBA's February 26th slate. This recap focuses on Mitchell Robinson, Kyrie Irving, and Russell Westbrook.
Most things in life come with their fair share of both good and bad. Light nights in the NBA are no different.
One of the good things about a three-game slate? You get to watch three games -- well, two-and-a-half -- instead of wasting countless time buffering as you aimlessly flip between an overwhelming number of options on NBA League Pass. The bad? You only get to watch three games. Well, two-and-a-half in last night's case as the Raptors ran away from the Celtics in the second quarter and it never really was much of a game after that.
I'll spare you the boredom that would likely accompany the continuance of my listing the pros and cons of the light NBA slate because only one thing really matters here: so long as the number of games is higher than zero on any given night, we'll be here to catch you up with the RotoBaller NBA recap. And that's exactly what you'll find below as I've highlighted one individual performance from each of last night's contests.
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It's Time to RSVP for Mitchell Robinson's Block Party
With 17 points, 14 rebounds, and six blocks for the Knicks in last night's 108-103 victory over the Magic, Mitchell Robinson fell four blocks shy of becoming the third player over the last five seasons to notch a triple-double with blocks accounting for a third of the triple (Anthony Davis and Hassan Whiteside - four).
Currently third in the league in blocks per game, Robinson has now recorded at least two in each of his last nine games -- a stretch which has seen him average 11 points and nine rebounds, to go with four blocks per -- and with DeAndre Jordan's name frequenting the rumor mill as a potential buyout candidate, the rookie big man could be in for a much more consistent role down the stretch.
Kyrie Irving Continues to Have Bad Luck With Canadians
It all started back in 2016.
Kyrie Irving, and then girlfriend Kehlani, were all in love, posting cute pictures on Instagram and doing all of the things young, rich kids do when they're in love. Until, one day, rapper/singer/whatever he is PartyNextDoor -- who's Canadian and also Kehlani's ex-boyfriend -- posts an IG photo himself... In bed with Kyrie's then "girlfriend" (apparently the two weren't dating at the time and a bunch of other high school bs which I don't have the desire, or time, to delve into any further). Sure, Kyrie and the Cavs went on to sweep the Toronto Raptors in the second round just a few months later, but still, he took the L on that one.
Now a member of the Boston Celtics, Irving has faced the Raptors four times since the aforementioned sweep and publication of his private life. And in the two games played in Boston, he's averaged a Kyrie-esque 35 points and 15 assists. The two games played up north, though? 19 and five. His struggles with Canadians continued last night as he scored just seven points -- on 3-for-10 from the field -- with five assists and four rebounds in the Celtics 95-118 loss at Toronto. Blame PartyNextDoor.
Russell Westbrook.
"Russ put up a triple-double last night" has been uttered so many times that the feat has become mundane. That, in itself, only begins to describe the depths of Westbrooks greatness, however.
Double-digit rebounds in 16-straight games, twice as many triple-doubles (24) as any one else in the league (Nikola Jokic is second with 12), a double-double in all but nine games this season, 11 triple-doubles in his last 15 games... There aren't many superlatives that can justly describe the numbers Westbrook is putting up this season. Let alone, the last two seasons. Or, his entire NBA career for that matter.
Westbrook fell an assist shy of recording yet another triple-double last night in the Thunder's 112-121 loss to the Nuggets, and while I'm not one to favor stating the overtly obvious -- Jokic also had himself a game and is probably more deserving since his squad actually won -- I'm tired of hearing all of the "he's a stat padder", "he's shooting like 40-percent", "he doesn't make his teammates better" and frankly, any form of Russ slander - Russell Westbrook is one of the greatest guards the game has ever seen.
Period.
PS - Apologies for not finding a way to successfully incorporate "party" into the Westbrook section. I'm sure you're as disappointed by this as I.
