Miami’s LeBron James and Utah’s Al Jefferson crowned the ‘Players of the Week’ - NBA Update
Miami Heat superstar LeBron James and Utah Jazz centre Al Jefferson have been named as the Eastern and Western Conference player of the week respectively for their performances in the games played from April 16 to April 22.
James, grabbing the award, doesn’t come as a surprise. With the regular season winding down, James has found an extra spring in his step. In the past month, he surpassed all the players to become the most worthy candidate for MVP
title.
James led Heat to a 4-1 record in the past week, opening his account with 37 points and 6 boards in a crucial 101-98 victory over New Jersey Nets. The most significant improvement James showed in his game last week were his clutch
plays. He scored the last seventeen Miami points in the Nets game to carve out a come from behind win.
This was also the week, after which Kevin Durant, the only player standing between James and the third MVP award, admitted that the Miami star deserved the honour;
“He deserves all the love (for MVP),” said Thunder forward Kevin Durant. “He's playing phenomenal basketball. I'm just trying to get better every single game and trying to help my team as much as I can. I'm just blessed to be in
that conversation.”
In the five games played, James averaged an impressive 31.0 points on 58% shooting and scored more than 25 points in all the games. He capped off the week with style, scoring an impressive 32 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists against
the Houston Rockets.
He also averaged 7.5 boards and 5.5 assists in the week, in which Heat’s only defeat was against Washington Wizards and the reason was his absence.
On the other hand, in Western Conference, Al Jefferson stole the show. He opened the week with 28 points and an unbelievable 26 boards against defending champions Dallas Mavericks and was the main reason Utah managed to sneak pass
Mavs, 123-121 in triple overtime.
The centre averaged 20 points and 15.3 rebounds in the past week, leading the Jazz to a 3-0 week. He concluded the week with 21 points and 10 boards in a 117-107 victory over Orlando Magic, his straight third double-double in the
week.
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