The NBA announced today that Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić has been named the Western Conference Player of the Week for games played from Monday, Jan. 25, through Sunday, Jan. 31.
The honor is Harden’s first as a Net and the 25th Player of the Week award of his career.
Harden led Brooklyn to a 3-1 week, including a 3-0 mark in games he appeared in. Harden recorded averages of 25.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 11.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks in 37.6 minutes per game, while shooting 56.8 percent from the field, 55.0 percent from 3-point range and 88.2 percent from the free-throw line. His assists per game were the highest in the league for the week. Harden opened the week by recording 20 points, four rebounds and eight assists in 34 minutes in a 98-85 victory over the Miami Heat at Barclays Center on Jan. 25. He followed up that performance by posting 31 points, eight rebounds, a Nets season-high 15 assists, two steals and one block in 46 minutes in a 132-128 overtime win at the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 27. In that game, Harden became the second player this season, and the first player in the Eastern Conference, to register 30 or more points and 15 or more assists in a game. He also became the first Nets player since Stephon Marbury on Jan. 20, 2000, versus Detroit to notch 30 or more points and 15 or more assists in a game. Harden rounded out his week by logging his third triple-double in eight games as a Net, registering 25 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in 32 minutes in a 147-125 victory on Jan. 29 at Oklahoma City. The 147 points for the Nets matched a franchise record for points scored in a regulation game. Harden sat out Brooklyn’s fourth and final game of the week last night at Washington with a left thigh contusion.
Harden is the 27th player in franchise history to earn Player of the Week honors and the second this season, joining Kevin Durant, who captured the award on Jan. 18. Harden and Durant are the first Nets teammates to win Player of the Week awards in the same season since Brook Lopez and Deron Williams in the 2014-15 campaign, and the second set of teammates to earn Player of the Week honors in the NBA this season, joining Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid (Jan. 25) and Tobias Harris (Jan. 4).
In his 12th NBA season, Harden has appeared in 16 games this season, including eight with the Nets. In those eight games as a Net, he’s registered averages of 24.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 11.8 assists (first in the NBA) and 1.1 steals in 39.9 minutes per game, shooting 48.4 percent from the field, 40.0 percent from 3-point range and 87.7 percent from the free-throw line.
Jokić wins the award in consecutive weeks, becoming the first Nugget to win in back-to-back weeks since Carmelo Anthony in 2006 (11/27/06 & 12/4/06). He has now earned Western Conference Player of the Week honors eight times in his career, the second most in franchise history.
Jokić, 25, averaged 30.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.30 steals while shooting .623 from the field and .455 from three-point range. He helped lead the Nuggets to a 3-1 week, including a home win over the Utah Jazz on 1/31, snapping their 11-game winning streak and two road wins over the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat. The 3-1 week moved Denver’s record to 12-8, fourth best in the Western Conference.
Jokić started the week by registering 20 points (8-13 FG’s), 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals in a road victory over the Dallas Mavericks on 1/25. Denver then headed to Miami, where he put up a stat-line of 21 points, 11 rebounds and three assists in 40 minutes. Jokić followed that performance up with another massive game, finishing with 35 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and one steal at San Antonio on 1/29. He finished the week with arguably the best game of his career vs. Utah, tying a career-high with 47 points (17-26 FG’s), 12 rebounds, five assists and two steals in 37 minutes, becoming the first Nugget to ever post those numbers. He scored 22 points in the first quarter and 33 points in the first half, both career-highs in any single quarter or half.
Jokić leads the NBA in PER, is third in total assists, fifth in assists per game, sixth in rebounds per game and 12th in scoring, while averaging 26.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 8.6 assists and 1.75 steals in 35.8 minutes. He has also produced a double-double in all 20 games, becoming just the second player since 1976 to record a double-double in each of the first 20 games (Walton).
