The Toronto Raptors’ DeMar DeRozan and the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry today were named the Kia NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month, respectively, for games played in January.
DeRozan ranked second in the Eastern Conference in scoring (25.3 ppg) and added 5.9 assists as the Raptors went 10-5 in January to pull within a game and a half of the East-leading Boston Celtics. The 6-7 guard scored at least 30 points in four of 15 games, highlighted by a franchise-record 52 points in a 131-127 overtime victory against the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 1. DeRozan recorded at least eight assists four times and posted the highest assist average for any month of his nine-year career.
The Warriors were 10-2 with Curry in the lineup in January, with six of those wins coming on the road. (Golden State went 11-3 overall.) The 6-3 guard led the NBA in scoring (29.5 ppg) and added 6.7 assists and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 51.4 percent from the field and 46.3 percent from three-point range. Curry scored at least 30 points on six occasions, including a season-high 49 points in a 109-105 win over the Celtics on Jan. 27. He connected on an NBA-high 62 three-pointers for the month, including eight threes as part of a 45-point effort in a 121-105 victory against the LA Clippers on Jan. 6.
