February's Top Performers
February's Top Performers
Highlighting some of the NBA's top performers in the month of February.
This February recap is unlocked for all subscribers. If you are a free subscriber who has enjoyed Statitudes, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. This newsletter is produced by a team of one — me! — but provides more “NBA statistical goodness”1 than most, if not all, major media outlets. Sign up using the special link below and you’ll get 20% off your first 12 months.
If you are already a paid subscriber, thank you so much for your support.
Here are some quick hitters on the NBA’s top performers in the month of February. Please note that all references to a “month” mean a calendar month, and all per-game factoids are based on a minimum of 10 games played.
The leaders in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks were:
385 PTS — Damian Lillard
156 REB — Nikola Jokic
112 AST — Nikola Jokic & Trae Young
25 STL — Josh Richardson
35 BLK — Walker Kessler
The leaders in PPG, RPG, APG, SPG, and BPG were:
38.5 PPG — Damian Lillard
14.4 RPG — Anthony Davis
11.2 APG — Trae Young
2.2 SPG — Jalen Williams
3.2 BPG — Walker Kessler
Nikola Jokic recorded eight triple-doubles, two more than all other players combined. No other player recorded more than one triple-double. Jokic is the third player in NBA history to record at least eight triple-doubles in consecutive months, joining Oscar Robertson (1961-62) and Wilt Chamberlain (1967-68).
Jokic averaged 22.6 PPG, 14.2 RPG, and 10.2 APG. He’s the third player in NBA history to average a triple-double in at least three straight months, joining Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook.
Damian Lillard set a franchise record by averaging 38.5 PPG. Lillard owns the five-highest scoring averages in a month in franchise history:
38.5 PPG — February 2023
34.5 PPG — January 2023
34.1 PPG — January 2020
31.5 PPG — January 2021
31.4 PPG — February 2018
Lillard shot 96.3% from the free throw line, the highest such figure in NBA history by a player who averaged at least 30 PPG in a month. The previous mark of 96.1% was set by Stephen Curry in January 2019.
Joel Embiid averaged 30.8 PPG and 11.7 RPG, shooting 52.4% from the field and 88.6% from the free throw line. Embiid is the only center in NBA history to average at least 30 PPG and 10 RPG with a free throw percentage of 85% in a month. This is the third time he’s achieved this feat (February 2021 and January 2023). Embiid and Larry Bird are the only players in NBA history to record three such months.
Jarrett Allen averaged 18.4 PPG and 10.9 RPG while shooting 71.9% from the field. He’s just the third player in the last 50 NBA seasons to average at least 18 PPG and 10 RPG with a field goal percentage of 70% in a month, joining Artis Gilmore (March 1982) and Dwight Howard (February 2007).
The Milwaukee Bucks had a record of 10-0. It’s just the second time in franchise history they’ve won at least 10 games in a month without a loss. The first occurred in March 1973, when they went 13-0.
The Bucks are just the fourth team in NBA history to go undefeated in a February:
Dallas Mavericks, 2007 (10-0)
Houston Rockets, 2008 (13-0)
Houston Rockets, 2018 (12-0)
Milwaukee Bucks, 2023 (10-0)
The Atlanta Hawks had three different head coaches: Nate McMillan, Joe Prunty, and Quin Snyder. The last team with three different head coaches in a month was the Los Angeles Lakers in November 2012 (Mike Brown, Bernie Bickerstaff, and Mike D’Antoni).
There were 28 40-point games in the month, the third-highest such total in a February in NBA history:
35 — February 1962
29 — February 2021
28 — February 2023
Those 28 games were accounted for by 20 different players. It’s one of five months in NBA history to feature at least 20 different 40-point scorers:
25 — December 2022
23 — March 2022
22 — February 2021
22 — January 2023
20 — February 2023
Did you enjoy this free preview? If so, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Sign up for Statitudes using the special link below and you’ll get 20% off your first 12 months.
Marc Stein, “Recommended by Marc Stein”