With another week of the NBA season in the books, in the pocket, and out of sight, it's time to take a look at the best players of the last week. If you missed last week's, click here. If not, let's get into it, these are the 10 best players of the week.
Tyreke Evans
Even though the Memphis Grizzlies' season has been an utter trainwreck so far (11-25 on the year, the worst record in the West and the second-worst record in the league), this season has seen a huge bounce back for Tyreke Evans. The 2009-10 Rookie of the Year stumbled after his excellent first season but looks to back on track with Memphis. And this week specifically, Evans went above and beyond. For the week, Evans averaged 26.3 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists per game while shooting 49% from the field and 44% from three-point range.
Jimmy Butler
Following his first great week of the season last week, Jimmy Butler continued to thrive in his new role with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who went 2-1 on the week with Butler leading the charge as they improved to a 22-14 record on the year. For the week, Butler averaged 27.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 48% from the field and 92% from the free throw line. Butler's best performance came when the Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets, with Butler putting up 39 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists.
LeBron James
Well...the Cleveland Cavaliers are back on a losing streak. After starting the year poorly, the Cavs were able to regroup and pull away into the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference. One week and three straight losses later, they're down to the 3rd seed with a 24-12 record. Still, LeBron James continued to put up huge numbers as he has all season long and was easily one of the best players in the league for the last week. For the week, James averaged 21.7 points, 8 rebounds, 8.7 assists, and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 44% from the field
Dwight Howard
I'm gonna say it; Dwight Howard is the most under-appreciated player in the league right now. Even though he's long past the days of being in the conversation for MVP, Howard is still putting a big double-double on the season and while his team is struggling (the Charlotte Hornets are currently 13-22 on the year), Howard has continued his strong play all year. This week, Howard turned it up to 11 and had some of his best games of the year. For the week, Howard averaged 20.5 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.5 steals, and a block per game while shooting 52% from the field.
Andre Drummond
While the three-way battle for the top of the Eastern Conference rages on between the Cavaliers, Celtics, and Raptors, the Detroit Pistons find themselves firmly at the #4 spot with a 20-15 record. This comes following a week where they went 2-1, and Andre Drummond was the man to lead the way. For the week, Drummond averaged 17.3 points, 19 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.7 steals, and a block per game while shooting 55% from the field. Drummond never grabbed less than 18 rebounds a game during the week and even shot 67% from the free throw line, which is a small miracle for Andre Drummond.
James Harden
So...what happened to the Houston Rockets this week? After going 1-2 the previous week, the Rockets lost three more games and fell out of first place in the Western Conference. Currently on a five-game losing streak, the Rockets have some work to do following a disastrous two weeks. Still, James Harden played exceptionally well, as he tends to do. For the week, Harden averaged 27.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 9.3 assists, and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 30% from three-point range and 91% from the free throw line.
Joel Embiid
Is the Process working? Depends on how you look at it. On one hand, the Philadelphia 76ers currently find themselves out of playoff contention with a 16-19 record. On the other hand, however, they've built a strong young core who could become some of the best players in the league one day. With their playoff hopes up for grabs, we'll just have to wait and see what happens. What I can say for sure, however, is that Joel Embiid had a great week. For the week, Embiid averaged 27 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game while shooting 45% from the field and 53% from three-point range.
Anthony Davis
It's been 11 weeks of this. I'm out of ways to say that the New Orleans Pelicans are the most average team in basketball. Following a 1-2 week, the Pelicans find themselves with an 18-18 record and currently sit at the 8th seed in the Western Conference, with two of their players leading the way. The first of which is Anthony Davis. For the week, Davis averaged 32.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, a steal, and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 52% from the field and 42% from three-point range.
DeMarcus Cousins
Normally, I only pick one player for the player of the week. However, this week is different. I can't really choose between the next two players, and I think they were too evenly great this past week to choose one over the other. So this week, there are two players of the week and the first of which is DeMarcus Cousins. Despite the Pelicans' uneventful season so far, Cousins has been tearing it up all season long and hasn't shown any signs of slowing down. For the week, Cousins averaged 29.3 points, 17.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.3 steals, and 2 blocks per game. Cousins' best performance came in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks where he recorded 32 points, 20 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, and 5 blocks
Russell Westbrook
And finally, the second player I'm picking as the player of the week is Russell Westbrook. The Oklahoma City Thunder have had a pretty successful run over the last few weeks. After a terrible month of October where they went 4-9 (a record made worse considering the fact that they have three all-star level players on their roster), the Thunder pulled ahead with a 12-4 record in December and boosted them up to the 5th seed in the West. That's where Westbrook comes in, as his leadership and ability to lead a team has seen him have one of the best weekly performances of anyone in the league. For the week, Westbrook averaged 33.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 11 assists, and 2 steals per game while shooting 49% from the field.
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