LeBron James and Russell Westbrook named NBA players of the week
This week’s Western and Eastern Conference players were no surprise entries. On Monday, the NBA announced that LeBron James and Russell Westbrookhave named as the Eastern and Western Conference 'Players of the Week'.
LeBron James (Eastern Conference player of the week):
James was a standout player last season and many people still argue that he should have been awarded the MVP instead of Derrick Rose. However, this time, the way he is performing, chances are high that he will receive the honourable award.
Miami Heat played 4 games from 23rd January to 29th and in three of those, LeBron single handedly guided the team to wins by producing mammoth tallies.
In the first game on 25th January against the Detroit Pistons, LeBron pounded 32 points on 13-for-14 from the charity stripe, 6 rebounds and 7 assists to take his team to a 101-98 victory. Two nights later, against the New York Knicks, he accumulated 31 points, grabbed 8 boards and dished out 7 assists as Heat overpowered the Knicks 99-89.
However, LeBron's ultimate test came against the Chicago Bulls on 29th. In what was an exciting encounter between two of the best players in the league Derrick Rose and LeBron, LeBron ended as the winner, outscoring his opponent by 1 point 35-34, and forcing 11 rebounds.
Russell Westbrook( Western Conference Player of the Week)
Oklahoma City Thunder have had an outstanding start in the shortened season, courtesy of Kevin Durant apoint guard Russell Westbrook. Westbrook was phenomenal last season and after some initial stumbles, he has started to find his groove again. This week, he guided Thunder to three wins to earn himself the MVP of the week.
Like LeBron, Westbrook also started the week against the Pistons. Russell scored 24 points on 11-for-17 shooting from the floor, grabbed 5 rebounds and 6 assists, to help Thunder cruise to an easy win. Two nights later against the New Orleans Hornets, Westbrook, putting up an all round performance, Russell posted 14 points, 5 assists, 3 steals and 3 rebounds as Thunder successfully downed the Hornets 101-91.
Then in the final game of the week, he posted yet another solid performance against Golden State Warriors with 28 points, 11 assists, six boards and seven steals to guide his team to a 120-109 win.
Other Nominees:
Paul Pierce, Blake Griffin, Chris Bosh, Pau Gasol, Joe Johnson, Jeff Teague, Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, LaMarcus Aldridge, Kyrie Irving, Deron Williams and Lou Williams.
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