Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum Named NBA's Players of the Month
The NBA has named Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns) and Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics) the Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Month, respectively, for games played in the months of October and November during the 2022-23 NBA season.
Leading the Phoenix Suns to a 15-6 record so far this season, Devin Booker has been sensational, especially with Cameron Johnson and Chris Paul both going down with separate injuries.
Booker ended up averaging 29.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game through October and November and he also shot 48.9 percent from the floor.
He only recorded less than 20 points three different times in this span and Booker also recorded eight 30-point games, including a 51-point masterpiece this past Wednesday in only three quarters to close out the month! Devin Booker is currently tied for sixth in 30-point games this season, tied for second in 40-point games and is one of four players to record a 50-point game so far this year.
In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics have been the best team in the entire league and this is not only thanks to their abundance of offensive talent, but because of Jayson Tatum.
Now in his 6th NBA season, Tatum has transcended himself from being an All-Star to being one of a few superstar, generational-like talents in this league and fresh off leading the Celtics to the NBA Finals this past season, Tatum is looking to bring Boston back to the Finals for another crack at winning a championship.
Leading Boston to an 18-4 record thus far, Tatum averaged 31.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and shot 48.8 percent from the floor, 36.6 percent from three-point range in the games he played in from October through November.
Tatum is one of six different players to have scored at least 49 points in a game this season and this performance came on Wednesday, the final day of November.
Like Booker, Tatum ranked tied for second in 40-point games this year and he now only trails Luka Doncic for the league lead in scoring.
This marks the second time in Devin Booker’s career that he has received the NBA’s Western Player of the Month honor and he is the 6th player in Phoenix Suns history to receive the Western Conference Player of the Month honor more than once.
For Jayson Tatum, this is also his second time being named the NBA's Eastern Conference Player of the Month. He joins Larry Bird and Paul Pierce as the only other players in team history to receive this honor more than once.
Luka Doncic (DAL), Stephen Curry (GSW), Anthony Davis (LAL), De'Aaron Fox (SAC), Jerami Grant (POR), Anfernee Simons (POR), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC), Nikola Jokic (DEN) and Ja Morant (MEM) were also nominated for Western Conference Player of the Month, as Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL), O.G. Anunoby (TOR), DeMar DeRozan (CHI), Kevin Durant (BKN), Joel Embiid (PHI), Tyrese Haliburton (IND), Myles Turner (IND), Donovan Mitchell (CLE), Franz Wagner (ORL) were all nominated for Eastern Conference Player of the Month.
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