The NBA has named their Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week for February 26 - March 4. The winners both come from teams that had unblemished records this past week. In the Eastern Conference, guard DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors received the honors. Center Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans was named the Western Conference Player of the Week.
Eastern Conference Player of the Week - DeMar DeRozan
The Raptors won all four of their outings last week with DeRozan leading the way. In 33.3 minutes per game, the 28-year-old DeRozan posted averages of 20.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.3 blocks.
He shot 27-56 (48.2 percent) from the field and 27-34 (79.4 percent) from the foul line. His week was a consistent one as he scored between 19-23 points in all four games. He went to the free throw line 11 times apiece in two easy wins for Toronto against the Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic last Monday and Wednesday. This is the ninth time in DeRozan’s nine-year career that he has been named Eastern Conference Player of the Week with four of those coming this season. He was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for January.
Western Conference Player of the Week - Anthony Davis
The Pelicans have won eight straight games with three of them coming last week. Davis has been completely dominant during the recent run and has helped keep the team very relevant in the Western Conference playoff picture despite losing DeMarcus Cousins for the season.
The 24-year-old Davis played 37.4 minutes per game in the three games last week and averaged 34.0 points, 15.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 2.0 steals, and 2.7 blocks. He connected on over half his shots from the field (34-67, 50.7 percent) and 34-39 (87.2 percent) of his attempts from the charity stripe.
He was unstoppable last Monday as the Phoenix Suns could not find an answer to contain him.
Davis scored a season-high 53 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, and blocked five shots. He lived at the free-throw line, going 21-26 for the game. He was far from a slouch in the other two games, finishing with 26 points and 15 rebounds on Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs and 23 points and 13 rebounds on Sunday against the Dallas Mavericks.
This is the fourth time (second time this season) in Davis’ six-year career that he has been named Western Conference Player of the Week. He was named the Western Conference Player of the Month for February.
