Martin flies higher to block bigs
Rookie makes impact after returning from time in the G League
For now, there remains a hole in K.J. Martin’s list of greatest swats, the missing piece that somehow makes the works of art already in his collection more impressive.
There is one remaining chance, though slim, to complete the list.
Martin has rejected dunks from 7-foot-5 Tacko Fall, 7-4 Boban Marjanovic, 7-3 Kristaps Porzingis and 7-1 Rudy Gobert and James Wiseman.
There is just one game remaining against a player listed at 7-2, the Nuggets’ Bol Bol, unlikely as it is they would spend much time in the game together April 24 at Denver.
Asked if Bol needs to be careful, the 6-foot-6 Martin smiled and said, “Yeah, for sure.”
His unfinished symphony is, however, impressive enough, full of bright spots amid the Rockets’ struggles.
“It’s just the flow of the game,” Martin said. “It just happened. I just go up and go up for the challenge. If I get dunked on, oh well. That’s just how I look at it.
“There’s no easy buckets. No matter who it is, I’m going to try to contest it, get a block, change their shot, do something. It’s cool that they are all seven-footers. I’m going to keep trying to add on to the list.”
Martin said he has no favorite, as if that would acknowledge any as more than routine. As with his recent flurry of putback dunks, the best of the bunch come with sudden strikes, usually without warning.
The best might be the first. The Mavericks’ Marjanovic seemed alone at the rim when he took Luka Doncic’s pass inside and turned for a one-handed spike. Martin closed from the weak side in a flash, reaching his left hand to Marjanovic’s right to reject the dunk.
The Jazz’s Gobert had taken a pass from Jordan Clarkson, turned to the rim looking over Martin as if he were not there, and gone up for a two-hand jam. Martin elevated to the top of Gobert’s
jump and reach, smacking his left hand hard into the ball while it was still in Gobert’s grasp and sending it the other way.
The swat on the Celtics’ Fall might have merited consideration as the most remarkable but was a bit difficult to celebrate with the Rockets down 34 with 6½ minutes left. Fall posted up then-Rockets center Justin Patton, turning with a drop step that left him alone at the rim. Fall went up for a dunk he could make look as easy as lowering a donut into a cup of coffee when Martin closed from behind with a leap to smack the ball away.
The block on the Mavericks’ Porzingis was spectacular but became anticlimactic when it took a coach’s challenge and video review to count. A foul called on Martin was overturned, allowing the block to be added to the pile, as if Stephen Silas used his challenge just so it could get the appropriate appreciation.
Finally, Martin, who was chosen 52nd by the Kings in the 2020 draft, met the Clippers’ Wiseman, the second pick. Wiseman set a drag screen for Jordan Poole and rolled. Martin stepped out on Poole and then recovered back to Wiseman,
who turned toward the rim for a one-handed jam only to have Martin meet him at the apex of his climb, sending the ball the other way.
That too could not be sufficiently relished because Wiseman landed awkwardly, injuring his right knee and potentially going out for the balance of the season.
In 26 games played, averaging 19.1 minutes, Martin has 24 blocked shots. Since returning from the G League after the AllStar break, he had averaged 8.4 points on 59.4 percent shooting and 40 percent 3-point shooting going into Monday’s game at Phoenix.
“Me going to the G League and getting that playing time … I think it helped me a lot get used to the flow of the game,” Martin said. “I really just try to stick to the same stuff I was doing there — just coming in, having energy, defending, and hitting open shots. It fits me great.”
Though Martin, the son of former Nets All-Star Kenyon Martin, has been around the NBA throughout his life, even making his first postgame podium appearance on his father’s lap, he said he has received extensive guidance from Rockets veterans, especially citing guard John Wall.
His father played against Wall. He also played with Suns guard Chris Paul long before his son played against him last week and again Monday.
His rookie season has been very different from his father’s, and not just because Kenyon Martin was the first pick of a draft. His father started all 68 games he played that season 20 years ago, averaging 12 points. But those Nets, as with this season’s Rockets, struggled to the lottery, making the final weeks about building something better.
“Just going out, competing hard, just playing the right way is our goal each game,” Martin said. “We know the season didn’t go as planned, but we still can get better.”
He might even add to his blocked shot collection, though he said even rejecting the shots of giants is just part of the job.
“Everyone is like, “Oh, I expect you to do that,’ ” Martin said. “It’s not really surprising.”