LeBron James tops Russell Westbrook for Player of the Month

Westbrook scored more points in February on better efficiency than James, and his Rockets also beat the Lakers by 10 at Staples Center.

Despite having one of the best and most efficient months of his career, Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook was not named by the NBA as Western Conference Player of the Month for February. Instead, the honor went to Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.

Westbrook averaged 33.4 points per game on 54.9% shooting in February, including a 40.0% clip from 3-point range. All of those figures are his best of any month this season, and they were also significantly better than what James posted during the same month.

Both the Rockets and Lakers went 9-2 in February, but Houston won head-to-head by double digits in a Feb. 6 showdown at Staples Center. Westbrook scored a game-high 41 points on 60.7% shooting that night (box score), while James had just 18 points on 42.1% from the field.

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Westbrook was last named Player of the Month in December 2017, when he was a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. He has won the award nine times over his 12-year NBA career.

In addition to his scoring, the former MVP and 2020 All-Star averaged 7.3 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.8 steals per game in February.

One big difference for the Rockets last month was that Clint Capela, their previous starting center, didn’t play a single minute. With the switch to a smaller lineup bringing increased floor spacing on offense, Westbrook repeatedly took advantage of open driving lanes.

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Best of all, the elite statistics from Westbrook were tightly correlated with wins by the team. In 11 games, Houston’s only losses came on Feb. 7 in Phoenix (when Westbrook didn’t play) and on Feb. 9 to Utah, courtesy of a wild Bojan Bogdanovic buzzer-beater.

With six wins in their last seven games, Westbrook and the Rockets are looking to continue their winning ways in March. They return to action Thursday night, when the rival Los Angeles Clippers (41-19) visit Houston in a critical game for seeding in the 2020 NBA playoffs.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Central time from Toyota Center, with the game broadcast nationally on TNT.

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