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, blocks, double-doubles, and triple-doubles were:
PTS — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 412
REB — Domantas Sabonis, 152
AST — Trae Young and Nikola Jokic, 139
STL — Dyson Daniels, 35
BLK — Nic Claxton and Evan Mobley, 25
DD2 — Nikola Jokic, 11
TD3 — Nikola Jokic, 7
The leaders in PPG, RPG, APG, SPG, and BPG were:
PPG — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 31.7
RPG — Walker Kessler, 15.1
APG — Trae Young and Nikola Jokic, 11.6
SPG — Kris Dunn, 3.1
BPG — Nic Claxton, 2.5
The leaders in field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage, and free throw percentage were:
FG% — Richaun Holmes, .759
3P% — De’Andre Hunter, .545
FT% — Coby White, .977
Three players recorded a 50-point game: the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry with 56 on Feb. 27, the Denver Nuggets’ Jamal Murray with 55 on Feb. 12, and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 50 on Feb. 5.
The Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards topped all players with three 40-point games, while Gilgeous-Alexander was the leader in 30-point games with eight.
The Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic averaged a triple-double, producing figures of 27.3 PPG, 12.3 RPG, and 11.6 APG in 12 games. He shot 61.0% from the field and 85.1% from the free throw line.
Jokic has recorded at least five triple-doubles in each of his last four months. The NBA record of five such months in a row was set by Russell Westbrook in 2016-17.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James averaged 29.3 PPG in 11 games, the highest single-month scoring average in NBA history by a player age 40 years or older. He also averaged 10.5 RPG and 6.9 APG, shooting 55.5% from the field and 44.3% from 3-point range.
James is the first Laker to average at least 25 PPG, 10 RPG, and 5 APG in a month since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Dec. 1979. He is, of course, the oldest player in NBA history to reach those figures in a month.
The 36-year-old Curry averaged 30.7 PPG in 11 games, shooting 45.9% from the field, 37.9% from 3-point range, and 92.1% from the free throw line. He’s the second-oldest player in NBA history to average at least 30 PPG in a month, trailing only James (five times).
The Detroit Pistons’ Cade Cunningham averaged 25.9 PPG and 10.1 APG in 11 games. The only other player in franchise history to average at least 25 PPG and 10 APG in a month is Isiah Thomas, who did so twice (Feb. 1984 and Nov. 1984).
The Utah Jazz’s Walker Kessler averaged 15.1 RPG and shot 74.7% from the floor in 10 games. He’s just the fourth player in NBA history to average at least 15 RPG with a field goal percentage of 70% in a month, joining Wilt Chamberlain (eight times), DeAndre Jordan (twice), and Rudy Gobert.
The Cleveland Cavaliers posted the month’s best record, going 10-1 (.909) with an average scoring differential of plus-17.8 PPG, the highest in franchise history. In fact, only three teams in NBA history have recorded a higher such figure in a month: the San Antonio Spurs in Dec. 2015 (+18.5), the Phoenix Suns in April 1989 (+18.4), and the Minneapolis Lakers in Jan. 1949 (+18.2).
The Cavaliers are just the third team in NBA history to score at least 125 PPG and allow less than 110 PPG in a month. They join the Milwaukee Bucks in Jan. 1971 and the Los Angeles Lakers in Dec. 1971.
The Philadelphia 76ers recorded the month’s worst record, winning just one of their 11 games. That’s a winning percentage of .091, the franchise’s lowest such figure since March 2016, when they went 1-14.
The Charlotte Hornets are just the sixth team in NBA history to lose three games by 35 or more points in a month. They lost those three games consecutively, becoming the first team in league history to do so.
The Hornets are only the fourth team in NBA history to score less than 100 PPG and allow at least 115 PPG in a month, joining the Los Angeles Clippers in Jan. 1989, the Dallas Mavericks in Dec. 1992, and the Philadelphia 76ers in Feb. 2014.
Two teams set a franchise record for highest scoring average in a month: the Oklahoma City Thunder (127.7 PPG) and the Cleveland Cavaliers (126.0).
Three teams set a franchise record for most 3-pointers made per game in a month: the Thunder (16.0), the Washington Wizards (14.6), and the Los Angeles Lakers (14.1).