Into a new decade we go. The 2010s were an interesting one. The Super team trio came about in the early part of the decade as the Miami Heat dominated before Golden State Warriors emerged and forged a dynasty of their own, often battling the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. The 2020's ushers in a new era of basketball, perhaps dominated by other up-and-coming teams. This year has had its surprises. The Minnesota Timberwolves are still going strong, the New York Knicks finally won a basketball game and the Golden State Warriors are struggling. You can
view the December Players of the Week here.
In the All-Star vote, James Harden
leads all players with over 2.1 million votes. One glaring absent name from that list continues to be D'Angelo Russell. At this stage, it looks like Karl Anthony-Towns will be going it alone into the All-Star break.
The Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant and Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James today were named as their respective Conference Players of the Month, for games played during December. The Nets are having an average season with a 10-14 record as of writing, while the Los Angeles Lakers are leading the Western Conference with a 16-7 record, having gone 7-3 in their last 10 and have posted a 10-3 home record.
Durant has played well for the Nets with the rest of the team struggling to help the All-Star take them over the hump. In his last four games, Durant has
averaged 22.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. The Nets have gone 2-2 in their last four games, with 122-98 (Jan 01), 125-124 (Dec 26) wins over Detroit and Charlotte and 108-100 (Dec 27), 98-97 (Dec 24) losses to Cleveland and Toronto. Kevin Durant has won player of the week and player of the month for the Nets, but he won't be winning anything else this season. Maybe some All-Star competitions.
James has made the LA Lakers into one of the best teams in the NBA. They have gone 3-1 over their last four games due to him
averaging 29.7 points, 9 assists and 2 steals per game during that period, where they blew out the Memphis Grizzlies, Washington Wizards and New Orleans Pelicans. They did drop one to Miami on December 30, which allows Minnesota to keep pace with them in the Western Conference. LeBron James is showing consistency this season and on the very wrong side of 30. Each week it's looking more likely the Lakers are going back to the NBA Finals for the first time in 12 years (2008).
The New Orleans Pelicans' Zion Williamson and New York Knicks' R.J. Barrett today were named as their respective Rookie Conference Players of the Month, for games played during December. Power Forward Zion Williamson is
second among all rookies in scoring with 19.5 points per game, while R.J. Barrett is third with 16.3 points per game.
Williamson has continued his brilliant rookie run, despite the Pelicans suffering four defeats in their last four games. The 19-year old is a bright spot in an otherwise dark season for the Pelicans.
Barrett is coming off a 24 point game in which the Knicks lost to the Celtics, 130-113. He did struggle in their lone win on the season over the Dallas Mavericks with just 8 points and going 2 of 9 on field goals. He was much improved against the Celtics, going 10 of 14.