SACRAMENTO -- The accolades are starting to roll in for Sacramento Kings star center DeMarcus Cousins. After leading the Kings to a 3-0 record this week, the NBA announced Monday afternoon that the 25-year-old big man has picked up his second Western Conference Player of the Week award this season.
The Kings have won five straight and sit at 8-3 in the month of January behind the herculean efforts of their franchise cornerstone. Cousins dropped in a career-best 48-points on Saturday to cap off a week in which he averaged a league-leading 36 points and 14.7 rebounds.
Cousins is averaging 32.5 points and 13.7 rebounds in the month of January. His tremendous play has catapulted the Kings into the eighth spot in the Western Conference standings, placing them in the thick of the playoff race for the first time in a decade.
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“Amazing, flat out amazing,” point guard Darren Collison said of his star big. “I mean, I don’t see how you can stop him. He’s playing as one of the best players in this league right now. There’s not too much that you can say over and over, just look at his game, watch his production – he’s just taking strides and taking it to a whole nother level. I’ve never seen this in my career from any other player that I’ve played with; it’s a blessing to see this.”
The Kentucky standout is currently third in the league in scoring at 26.7 points per night. He’s rattled off 10 straight double-doubles and despite being snubbed in the fan voting last week, he is all but a shoe-in for a Western Conference All-Star bid.
The Kings put their five game winning streak on the line Monday night against another player riding a hot streak. Eastern Conference Player of the Week Kemba Walker and his Charlotte Hornets teammates drop by for a visit, pitting two of the league’s breakout performers against each other.
Walker led the Hornets to a 3-1 record this week, averaging 34.8 points, six assists and six rebounds per game.