Deni Avdija and Donovan Clingan of the Portland Trail Blazers were both nominated for NBA Western Conference Player of the Week for Week 22 (March 16-22), the NBA announced today.
Avdija and Clingan led the Blazers to a 3-1 record during the week. Avdija returned to his All-Star level play, looking like his pre-injury self while averaging 24.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists. He shot just 39.1% from the field and 27.1% from behind the three-point arc, but made up for it by converting 80.9% of
his 11.8 free throw attempts per game.
Clingan contributed 20.3 points per game, including a career-high 28 points in a win over Indiana on March 18th. Over the course of the four games, he made 8-17 three-pointers. He also grabbed 12.3 rebounds per game, including 5.0 on the offensive end.
Neither Avdija or Clingan could keep pace with Luka Doncic, who won the award for the fourth time this season after averaging an absurd 42.3 points per game while also grabbing 6.8 rebounds and dishing out 6.3 assists. Doncic led the red-hot Los Angeles Lakers to a 4-0 record during the week.
Avdija and Clingan were in good company. Other nominees included Ayo Dosunmu and Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Amen Thompson of the Houston Rockets and Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs.
In the Eastern Conference, LaMelo Ball of the Charlotte Hornets won the award, leading his team to a 3-0 record. He averaged 26.3 points, 7.3 assists and 5.0 rebounds. Other Eastern Conference nominees were Nickeil Alexander-Walker of the Atlanta Hawks, Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics, Jalen Duren of the Detroit Pistons, James Harden and Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks.
