It's Monday, you know what that means! It's time to take a look back at the past week and see who the best players were around the league. Selections are based mostly on the player's stats, but (minus the rookie of the week) their team's record during the week is also taken into consideration. Click here to check out last week's if you missed it. If not, let's get into this.
Point Guard: Damian Lillard
As All-Star weekend comes to a close as I write this, we've pretty much hit the halfway mark of the season. The playoff race is starting to come to a close, and right now, the Portland Trail Blazers are looking good. Currently sitting at 5th in the West with a 21-14 record, a perfect 3-0 outing certainly helped strengthen their position in the playoff hunt. There were multiple players responsible for the Blazers' success this week, and one of them was Damian Lillard. For the week, Portland's sole all-star averaged 29.7 points, 7.7 assists, and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 42% from the field, 43% from three-point range, and 90% from the free-throw line. Lillard would close out the week with his best scoring performance of the season, dropping a season-high 44 points against the Kings.
Honorable Mentions:
De'Aaron Fox: 25 PPG, 11.3 APG, 1.3 SPG, 46% FG, 31% 3P
Stephen Curry: 25.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 6 APG, 3 SPG, 44% FG, 33% 3P
Shooting Guard: James Harden
I've been saying it for the past three weeks; the Brooklyn Nets have been borderline unstoppable since the James Harden trade. Now sitting at 16-7 since the trade, the Nets are now 24-13 on the year after a perfect 2-0 week, good enough for second in the East, and are just half a game behind the first-place 76ers. Given their dominance, it's no surprise that all three of the Nets superstars were selected to the all-star game, but this week, it was Harden leading the way. For the third week in a row, Harden was the best shooting guard in the entire league, averaging a triple-double with 29.5 points, 12 rebounds, and 14.5 assists per game while shooting 58% from the field and 47% from three-point range this week. Harden recorded a triple-double in both of the Nets' games this week, his best being the 30 point, 14 rebound, 15 assist performance against the Spurs
Honorable Mentions:
Collin Sexton: 35.5 PPG, 9 APG, 2.5 SPG, 53% FG, 46% 3P
Bradley Beal: 34 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 1.7 SPG, 47% FG, 36% 3P, 94% FT
Small Forward: LeBron James
If the addition of James Harden has been hugely important for the Brooklyn Nets' success, the loss of Anthony Davis has been just as important to the Los Angeles Lakers' collapse. While they're still one of the top teams in the West at 24-13, the team has gone 3-6 (1-2 this past week) since Davis was put on the shelf, and have dropped to third in the conference. It's safe to say that Davis is vital to the Lakers' success, but the fact that they haven't completely fallen apart is a testament to LeBron James. Playing in two games this week, James averaged 28.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 64% from the field and 46% from three-point range. In the Lakers' sole win this week, James recorded 19 points and 6 rebounds.
Honorable Mentions:
Jayson Tatum: 24 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 4.3 APG, 2.3 SPG, 49% FG, 33% 3P
Paul George: 24 PPG, 6 RPG, 5.5 APG, 40% FG, 100% FT
Power Forward: Giannis Antetkounmpo
As I mentioned last week, the Milwaukee Bucks had an up and down February. After winning five straight games before immediately losing five straight, the Bucks went on another five-game winning streak to end the month before getting blown out to start March. What a wild month it's been. After going 2-1 this week, the Bucks find themselves with a 22-14 record, putting them at 3rd in the East. And leading the way for the Bucks this week was, unsurprisingly, their sole all-star in Giannis Antetokounmpo. For the week, the reigning MVP averaged 29.7 points, 11 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.3 steals, and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 57% from the field. Antetokounmpo opened the week with his best performance, putting up 36 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 blocks in a win over the Clippers.
Honorable Mentions:
Zion Williamson: 27 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 5 APG, 1.5 SPG, 59% FG
Julius Randle: 22 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 6 APG, 1 BPG, 51% FG, 33% 3P
Center: Nikola Jokić
Last week, I said that the Denver Nuggets have been a bit disappointing this season, as they're closer to the bottom of the top eight in the West than they are to the top despite having a legit MVP candidate this year. However, this week, they managed to go a perfect 3-0, improving their record on the year to 21-15. They're still in sixth in the West right now, but they have momentum on their side. And leading the way for the team this week was the aforementioned MVP candidate in Nikola Jokić. For the week, Jokić averaged 32 points, 12 rebounds, 9.3 assists, and a steal per game while shooting 59% from the field, 38% from three-point range, and 92% from the free-throw line. During the week, Jokić would record his 9th triple-double of the season with 37 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists against the Bucks.
Honorable Mentions:
Joel Embiid: 32 PPG, 16 RPG, 4 APG, 1.5 BPG, 55% FG, 43% 3P
Nikola Vučević: 29 PPG, 12 RPG, 5.5 APG, 49% FG, 44% 3P, 100% FT
6th Man: Carmelo Anthony
As I mentioned earlier, the Portland Trail Blazers had a strong week, going a perfect 3-0 to improve their overall record to21-14. While Damian Lillard was the leader of this team, the contributions of the bench cannot go unnoticed, as without CJ McCollum, the reserves have come through big. Specifically, Carmelo Anthony, who was the absolute best of the bench players this week. For the week, Anthony averaged 22.3 points, 3 assists, 1.7 steals, and a block per game while shooting 56% from the field and 45% from three-point range. Anthony would open the week with his best performance of the season, putting up a season-high 29 points and recorded 5 steals against the Hornets.
Honorable Mentions:
Chris Boucher: 24 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 1 BPG, 62% FG, 43% 3P
Thaddeus Young: 15 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 3.5 APG, 3 SPG, 1.5 BPG, 74% FG
Rookie: LaMelo Ball
From one Melo to another, we come to my pick for the best rookie of the week, LaMelo Ball. Last week, I mentioned that I don't think the Rookie of the Year race is as one-sided as many people are claiming it is. That being said, if there was ever a week that would give people the impression that Ball is undoubtedly going to win the award, it's this one. While the Charlotte Hornets had a decent week for themselves (going 2-1 to improve their record to 17-18), Ball was by far the best rookie in the entire league. For the week, Ball averaged 24.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists, and 2 steals per game while shooting 56% from the field and an insane 71% from three-point range. One of Ball's best performances of the week came in a win over the Kings where he put up 24 points and 12 assists.
Honorable Mentions:
Patrick Williams: 13 PPG, 4 RPG, 61% FG, 50% 3P
Saben Lee: 11.3 PPG, 4.7 APG, 57% FG
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