Hornets guard Kemba Walker and Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard today were named NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Feb. 27 through Sunday, March 5.
Walker averaged 27.7 points (third in the East), 6.3 assists (tied for fifth in the East), 4.3 rebounds and 1.33 steals for the week as the Hornets went 2-1. The All-Star guard opened the week by recording 30 points, seven assists and five rebounds and hitting the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:55 to play in a 109-104 victory at the Los Angeles Lakers. On March 4, he scored a team-high 27 points and added four assists, four rebounds and two steals in a 112-102 road win over the Denver Nuggets.
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Leonard led the Spurs to a 3-0 week behind averages of 32.0 points (second in the West), 9.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and a league-best 4.0 steals. On March 1, he hit the game-winning basket with 2.4 seconds remaining to cap a 31-point outing in a 100-99 victory over the Indiana Pacers. The All-Star forward closed the week with 34 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and a season-high six steals in a 97-90 overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 4. That performance marked his 90th straight game with at least 10 points, the longest streak by a Spur since Tim Duncan’s 91-game run ended in 2003.
Other nominees for the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Boston’s Isaiah Thomas, Dallas’ Seth Curry, New Orleans’ DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis, Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, Phoenix’s Tyler Ulis, Portland’s Damian Lillard, Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan and Washington’s Bradley Beal and Bojan Bogdanovic.
