February's Top Performers
February's Top Performers
Highlighting some of the NBA's top performers in the month of February.
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, all per-game factoids are based on a minimum of 10 games played, and all shooting-percentage factoids are based on a minimum of 10 games played with a pro-rated number of makes that would qualify for league leadership using the current guidelines.
The leaders in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks were:
PTS — Stephen Curry, 388
REB — Domantas Sabonis, 165
AST — Tyus Jones, 130
STL — De’Aaron Fox, 34
BLK — Victor Wembanyama, 47
The leaders in PPG, RPG, APG, SPG, and BPG were:
PPG — Luka Doncic, 33.4
RPG — Rudy Gobert, 13.8
APG — Tyus Jones, 10.8
SPG — De’Aaron Fox, 3.1
BPG — Victor Wembanyama, 3.9
The shooting percentage leaders were:
FG% — Nick Richards, 67.9%
3P% — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 60.6%
FT% — Bruce Brown & Michael Porter Jr., 100%
The Sacramento Kings’ Domantas Sabonis led all players in double-doubles with 12 and triple-doubles with eight. He became the fifth player in NBA history to record at least eight triple-doubles in a month, joining Oscar Robertson (five times), Russell Westbrook (four times), Wilt Chamberlain (twice), and Nikola Jokic (twice).
Sabonis averaged 20.0 PPG, 13.8 RPG, and 10.2 APG with a field goal percentage of 61.3%. The only other players in NBA history to average a triple-double with 60% shooting from the floor in a month are Jokic (three times) and Chamberlain (twice).
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The Denver Nuggets’ Jokic also averaged a triple-double, posting figures of 23.7 PPG, 13.0 RPG, and 10.4 APG. It’s just the second month in NBA history in which two players averaged a triple-double. LeBron James and Russell Westbrook accomplished the feat in February 2018.
Jokic recorded five triple-doubles, the eighth time he’s reached that mark in a month. It’s the third-highest such total in NBA history, trailing only Russell Westbrook (16) and Oscar Robertson (14).
The Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic averaged 33.4 PPG, 9.6 RPG, and 10.3 APG, the third straight month in which he’s averaged at least 30 PPG and 10 APG. The only player in NBA history with a longer such streak is Nate Archibald, who recorded four such months in a row from November 1972 to February 1973.
The LA Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard averaged 24.1 PPG, shooting 53.9% from the field, 46.2% from 3-point range, and 90.7% from the free throw line. It’s the second straight month in which Leonard has averaged at least 20 PPG with 50/45/90 shooting splits. He’s the first player in NBA history to do this in consecutive months.
The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo averaged 29.3 PPG with a field goal percentage of 65.5%. No player in NBA history has recorded a higher scoring average in a month while shooting at least 65% from the floor.
The San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama averaged 21.3 PPG, 10.7 RPG, and 3.9 BPG. He’s the first rookie to average at least 20 PPG, 10 RPG, and 3 BPG in a month since Tim Duncan in February 1998. Wembanyama is the first player in NBA history — rookie or otherwise — to reach those marks in a month while averaging at least one 3-pointer made per game.
The Washington Wizards’ Tyus Jones recorded 130 assists versus just 17 turnovers, an assist-to-turnover ratio of 7.6. Since the NBA began tracking individual turnovers in 1977-78, the only player to record a higher such figure in a month in which they averaged at least 10 APG was Muggsy Bogues in April 1989 (10.0).
The Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards averaged 31.0 PPG, breaking the franchise record for highest scoring average in a month. The previous mark of 30.7 PPG was set by Kevin Love in March 2012.
The New York Knicks’ Jalen Brunson averaged 31.9 PPG. The only player in franchise history to record a higher scoring average in a month is Bernard King (five times).
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 30.5 PPG, the fourth consecutive month in which he’s averaged at least 30 PPG. That ties Westbrook (December 2016 to March 2017) for the longest such streak in franchise history.
The Thunder’s Chet Holmgren averaged 19.3 PPG, shooting 59.2% from the field and 45.6% from 3-point range. His effective field goal percentage was 69.2%, the highest such figure in NBA history by a rookie who averaged at least 15 PPG in a month.
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The Boston Celtics had a record of 9-1 (.900), the NBA’s best winning percentage in February. On the downside, the Washington Wizards and Portland Trail Blazers both went oh-for-February, losing 12 and nine games, respectively.
The Golden State Warriors led all teams with nine double-digit wins last month, while the Brooklyn Nets recorded the most double-digit losses with seven.
The Warriors led all teams with nine 120-point games in February. On the flip side, the Atlanta Hawks gave up at least 120 points in nine games, the month’s highest such total.
The Oklahoma City Thunder (124.7 PPG) and Dallas Mavericks (121.7 PPG) each set a franchise record for highest scoring average in a month. It’s the second time in three months the Thunder have broken their franchise scoring record, while the Mavericks eclipsed a mark that had stood since November 1986 (119.1 PPG).
The Thunder shot 50.6% from the field, 42.7% from 3-point range, and 83.0% from the free throw line. It’s just the seventh time in NBA history a team has averaged at least 120 PPG with 50/40/80 shooting splits in a month.
The Celtics averaged 122.0 PPG with an effective field goal percentage of 60.8%. The latter is the highest such figure in NBA history by a team that averaged at least 120 PPG in a month.