March in review: Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant - Top 11 NBA Players – Part 2
8. Dwyane Wade – Miami Heat
After a December to remember, in which he initiated the Miami Heat resurgence, Dwyane Wade again set the NBA courts alight in March. Not only, did the All-Star guard average a league second-best 26.6 points per game on a 48.6 %
shooting through the month, he also eclipsed 30 points or more on six occasions. Concomitant to that, he also paced his team with a staggering 1.8 blocks and 1.7 steals per game.
His most prolific performance came against the Philadelphia 76ers on March 25. Leading a spirited second half fight back from the Heat, Wade had a monster night with 39 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 blocks.
7. Kevin Durant – Oklahoma City Thunder
Kevin Durant is the face of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The small forward, who has been the key cog of the Oklahoma City setup for some time now, was not at his best in the month of March. Roaring at the summit of the league with
a scoring average of 27.8 this season, Durant only banged the rim at an average of 25.5 points this month. But, such is the flair and the talent of the man, that a partially firing Durant is better than most of the forwards in the league.
His worst performance, if that can be considered in that vein, of the month came in the form of 20 points in a home loss against the Toronto Raptors On March 20. It was only one of the two losses that the Thunder endured in 14
games this month. Durant however capped the month with a signature 39 points performance in an overtime one-point humdinger against the Golden State Warriors.
6. Derrick Rose – Chicago Bulls
It may be surprising for some to see Derrick Rose outside the top five, given his strong contention for this year’s MVP award. Derrick Rose is a beast on the court; there is no doubting that. He is the man that has once again enchanted
the windy city with the nostalgia of a Championship. But, the matter of fact is that Rose has not lived up to his February heroics this month. Although, he scored slightly above his scoring average for the season, it was a far cry from his 26.4 points per
game in February. In addition to that, his on field shooting also plummeted from 44 percent to about 41.6 percent.
But such is the aura of the second year point guard, that even when he struggles at one front, he compensates it with an outburst of brilliance in another domain. One such highlight came in the game against the Indiana Pacers on
March 18, when he made it the charity stripe a staggering 21 times.
His best performance of the month came against the Milwaukee Bucks on March 26 when he unleashed a 30 points and 17 assists performance to spearhead the Bulls to a 95-87 victory. Two nights later against the Philadelphia 76ers
though, Rose had a horror night as he committed ten turnovers in a 97-85 loss.
Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in the article and the ratings assigned are the writer’s own personal views and has nothing to do with bettor.com’s editorial policy.
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