Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade win NBA Player of Week awards

The Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant were named Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, as both guards led their squads with tremendous performances in their late-season push toward the playoffs.

Bryant carried the Lakers to a 3-1 week with averages of 33 points, 8.8 assists, and 5.8 rebounds. He posted back-to-back monster games of 40-plus points and 10-plus assists in wins over New Orleans and Toronto.

Both of those games involved Bryant pulling his team out of deep second-half deficits with incredible clutch shot-making, possession after possession. As a result, the Lakers have won eight-of-their-last-10, moving one-half game ahead of Utah for the eighth spot in the West.

Miami, in the midst of a 2012-13 NBA season-best 18-game winning streak, was 4-0 during the week. In that stretch, Wade averaged 25.3 points on .606 shooting, and paired that with 5 assists and a league-leading 3.5 steals. He had 32 points, 10 assists, and 7 boards during a 97-81 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Here is a recap of the week for Wade and Bryant:

Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat

March 4 @ Minnesota: Tallied 32 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds in a 97-81 win over the Timberwolves.

March 6 vs. Orlando: Collected 24 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists during a 97-96 win over the Magic.

March 10 vs. Indiana: Scored 23 points and added six steals and three assists in a 105-91 win over the Pacers.

Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

March 6 @ New Orleans: Posted 42 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds in a 108-102 win over the Hornets.

March 8 vs. Toronto: Tallied 41 points, 12 assists and six rebounds in a 118-116 overtime win against the Raptors.

March 10 vs. Chicago: Scored 19 points and added nine assists, seven rebounds and two steals during a 90-81 win over the Bulls.


Other nominees
Boston’s Paul Pierce, Brooklyn’s Deron Williams, Denver’s Ty Lawson, Memphis’ Mike Conley and Marc Gasol, Miami’s LeBron James, New York’s J.R. Smith, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, Orlando’s Jameer Nelson, Portland’s Damian Lillard, and Toronto’s Amir Johnson.

By Staff of The Daily Sports Herald and news services