Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry and forward Kevin Durant have been named the Kia NBA Western Conference Players of the Month for games played in January, the league announced today. The award marks the first time that a pair of Warriors teammates has been named Co-Players of the Month and is the ninth time that the Warriors have earned the monthly accolade since the NBA began giving out the award in 1979-80.
Curry and Durant led the Warriors to an NBA-best 12-2 record (.857) during the month, in which Golden State led the league in scoring (120.3 points per game), assists (30.6), field goal percentage (.509), blocked shots (6.71) and point differential (+14.1). Curry (27.8 points) and Durant (27.4) became the first Warriors duo ever to average 27 points per game over the course of a full calendar month (min. 10 games) and the first pair of teammates in the league to do so since Miami's LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in January 2011, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Curry, who earned his franchise-record sixth career Player of the Month honor, averaged 27.8 points (fourth in the Western Conference), 6.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.46 steals in 34.2 minutes over 13 games in January. The reigning back-to-back MVP had four 30-point games and a pair of 40-point performances, finishing the month with 43 points in just 29 minutes on Jan. 28 vs. the Clippers to join teammate Klay Thompson and New Orleans' Anthony Davis as the only players to record a 40-point game in fewer than 30 minutes this season. Curry led the league with 62 three-point field goals during the month, hitting 43.1 percent from long distance, and had a league-high on-court differential of +15.3 in his 13 games.
Durant, who joins Curry, Chris Mullin and Bernard King as the only Warriors ever to receive the monthly recognition (his 14th career Player of the Month award), averaged 27.4 points (fifth in the West), 7.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 2.07 blocks and 1.07 steals in 34.4 minutes over 14 games in January. Durant recorded five 30-point games during the month and had a season-high 40 points on just 16 field goal attempts (13-of-16 FG) on Jan. 18 vs. Oklahoma City, becoming the first Warrior to score 40 points on 16 shots or fewer in the Shot Clock Era (since 1954-55). Among the league's top 20 scorers in January, Durant was the only player to convert on at least 55 percent of his shots, hitting 56.5 percent from the field during the month.
On Jan. 19, both Curry and Durant were named Western Conference All-Star starters, marking the first time since fan voting was introduced in 1975 that two Warriors were voted by the fans to start the All-Star Game (fans accounted for 50 percent of All-Star balloting this season). The Warriors posted a 7-1 mark at Oracle Arena in January and went 5-1 away from home, finishing the month with the fourth-most January wins in franchise history (12).
Boston's Isaiah Thomas earned Player of the Month honors in the Eastern Conference.
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