Brook Lopez is now the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for a second consecutive week — something that no other player has done all season long.
Lopez led the Nets to a 3-1 week from March 30 through April 5 behind team-leading averages of 20.8 points (sixth in the East), 10.3 rebounds (fourth in the East) and 2.0 blocks (tied for fifth). He shot better than 50% in all four of Brooklyn’s contests, and ranked seventh in the East for the week with a field goal percentage at 59.4%.
The big man also recorded two double-doubles, including a 30-point, 17-rebound outing during a 114-109 win over the Toronto Raptors on April 3. The torrid stretch continued in Monday night’s big home win over the Blazers, with Lopez scoring 32 points (on 15-of-25 shooting) and grabbing 9 rebounds.
The Nets (36-41) have won eight of their past 10 games in surging to the East’s No. 7 spot, giving them a two-game playoff cushion with only five remaining. In their last 11 contests, Lopez is averaging 26.2 points per on 61% shooting — making him the only NBA player this season to average over 25 points and 60% FG over a period of that length.
It’s been a remarkable turnaround for Lopez, who was on the verge of leaving Brooklyn at the trade deadline before Oklahoma City switched gears and nabbed Enes Kanter from Utah, instead. The late surge may even make Lopez more likely to opt out of the final year of his contract and become a free agent this summer, writes Grantland‘s Zach Lowe.
From March onward, Lopez has had six 30-point games, which trails only Russell Westbrook (10) and James Harden (9) in that span. All have come since March 20.
Harden, incidentally, was the Western Conference Player of the Week after averaging 36.8 points, 5.8 assists, 5.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game for Houston. It’s the third time this season for Harden to win the award and the eighth of his career.
The Rockets were 3-1 during that stretch, including big road wins in Dallas and Oklahoma City. The Rockets (53-24) now have a full-game lead on Memphis for the West’s No. 2 seed with five games left.
GERALD GREEN QUESTIONS FUTURE IN PHOENIX
Since January, Phoenix swingman Gerald Green has seen coach Jeff Hornacek reduce his minutes on a regular basis. After playing 23 minutes in December, that number dropped to 18.9 in January, 16.0 in February and 13.1 in March — with the latter figures even including his first DNP-CDs (did not play, coach’s decision) in over two seasons.
A year ago, Green was one of the best comeback stories in the league. His 15.8 points/game in 28 minutes were a career best, as was his blistering 40% mark from behind the arc.
Now 29 years old and with his three-point clip down to 34.6%, Green seems to have rapidly fallen out of favor with the Suns (39-38). And with free agency approaching this summer, he says he’s uncertain whether the club still wants him around.
From Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic:
“He never really seemed to get it going and then it comes to the point where, if you’re not scoring and if your defense isn’t picking up, it’s hard to stay in the game,” Hornacek said.
“The next guy is going, ‘I needed help here and the guy wasn’t here.’ We’re trying to develop something for the future, not just being out here for everybody to play in the game. We want to get to a top-notch winning level and you’ve got to do it on both sides.” …
“I want to be here but I just don’t know if they want me here,” Green said. “Because if you want somebody, you show them. I didn’t think I was playing that bad and now we’re here.”
Despite erratic playing time of late, Green put up 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting in just 22 minutes in Phoenix’s last game, a win Saturday in Utah. It marked Green’s highest point total since November.
WESTBROOK DONATES ALL-STAR MVP CAR TO SINGLE MOM
For winning MVP of the league’s All-Star Game back in February, Oklahoma City star Russell Westbrook received a brand new Kia SUV as part of the car manufacturer’s sponsorship deal with the NBA.
Just one problem: with Westbrook making $15.7 million per year, he didn’t exactly need a new car.
Westbrook found a nice solution, though, as he and the Thunder got in touch with Sunbeam Family Services in Oklahoma City and donated the car to single mom Kerstin Gonzalez. Gonzales is 19 years old and a mother of two, and she was thrilled to receive it.
NBA.com has full video of the exchange. From Nick Gallo of Thunder.com:
Gonzalez and her two boys, four-year-old Matthew and two-year-old Adam, have had a rough go of things lately. The single mother was just 14 when she got pregnant, as she said, “just a child” when she all of the sudden was forced to be an adult. Gonzalez has been the recipient of Sunbeam Family Services assistance for some time now, and has utilize the extra time and what she saves on diapers and other childcare needs by putting herself in a position to graduate from high school this year, work a job and to apply for colleges, where she wants to study forensic science.
Her current car was not in great driving shape and on Monday morning, the engine wouldn’t start. She has been borrowing cars from family and friends to be able to get to work, to get to school and to pick up her sons. To all of the sudden have that burden of worrying about transportation at all times be lifted was a huge weight off her shoulders.
“It’s so touching and so amazing knowing that there are people out there willing to help the ones that are in need,” Gonzalez said.
Westbrook also committed to take care of the first year of insurance payments, registration and other related fees.
“There were definitely tears of joy and I could tell some tears of hard work and all the different things she’s been through in her life,” Westbrook told the Norman Transcript. “Today was a stepping stone in showing her that everything is going to be alright.”
“It’s just all the hard work that she’s done to be able to keep her family together,” Westbrook said. “When you see somebody working hard towards a goal and finding ways every day to keep everything afloat for her two boys and her family, you can’t do anything but help them out.”
OTHER NEWS FROM AROUND THE NBA
The NBA will become the first US professional sports league to visit Cuba when it hosts a basketball development camp in Havana from April 23-26.
Two-time league MVP Steve Nash, NBA Global Ambassador Dikembe Mutombo, and WNBA legend Ticha Penicheiro will lead the four-day camp with the Cuban Men’s and Women’s National Teams, and community outreach projects in association with the Cuban sports ministry, INDER, and the Cuban Basketball Federation (CBF), according to league officials.
“We’ve seen the bridges that basketball can build between cultures,” NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum said in a press release issued by the league. “We look forward to sharing the values of our game with Cuban youth and learning together through the common language of sports.”
President Barack Obama ordered relations with Cuba to be normalized in December.
The NBA is jointly hosting the event with the the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
Ben DuBose is a veteran sports reporter who has followed the Houston Rockets and the NBA since Hakeem Olajuwon was Akeem Olajuwon. He writes for both SheridanHoops and ClutchFans, an independent Rockets blog. You can follow him on Twitter.
Brook Lopez’ numbers would have been even better, without the dud on Saturday vs. ATL, when he didn’t play much, as Nets were out of it by half time and decided to rest players (was back end of back to back). Yesterday he resumed with 32 pts in a win vs. Portland.
Regarding Gerald Green, there is always the Knicks and Lakers who will be looking for someone willing to play alongside Melo and Kobe on a losing team.