On January 5, Beijing time, the NBA officially announced the best of the month in the East and West, and the best in the West was Donovan Mitchell, averaging 30.5 points and 5 assists per game, shooting 50.2% to lead the Jazz to an impressive record of 12 wins and 2 losses.
The Eastern Conference's best of the month was Philadelphia's Joel Embiid, who averaged 29.2 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game, and Philadelphia had an 8-6 record. Both played at least 14 games in December (without missing out). But after the list came out, there was a lot of controversy, some people felt that the western monthly best should be given to the 37-year-old LeBron, and some people felt that the eastern region's best of the month should be given to the 34-year-old DeMar DeRozan.
The Bulls official tweeted DeRozan's December stats, averaging 29.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, shooting 52% from the field and 63% from three-point range, leading the Bulls to 8-0. DeRozan's performance was indeed very explosive, and the three-point shot became a regular weapon for DeRozan, and deRozan had contributed to the previous three games.
The whistle-beating Pacers, the whistle-beating Wizards, DeRozan's back-to-back completion of the second-reading kill set a record for the first person in NBA history, in addition to the deRozan in the game against the Magic, DeRozan is a free throw kill, counting three consecutive games to complete the kill.
The Bulls reporter also uploaded a video of DeRozan practicing free throws after the game, which is why DeRozan can maintain an 85.8% free throw shooting rate and can also use free throws to win at key moments. But why didn't DeRozan become the best of the month?
The key is the number of appearances, DeRozan triggered the health and safety agreement after winning the Nets on December 5, and did not return until December 20, during which he missed 6 games, according to the NBA rules to get the best of the month, he needs to play at least 70% of the games in a single month, that is, 10 games.
Fans still understand Embiid's Eastern Conference best of the month, Embiid scored 96 points in the league first and DeRozan 67 points in the league second, Embiid has indeed been tough this season.
Text/Yan Xiaobai