Cameroon-born Pascal Siakam has been named the Eastern Conference player of the week by the National Basketball Association.
The Toronto Raptors forward averaged 38.7 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 7.3 assists in 43.6 minutes per game across three games last week to win the honour for the fifth time in his career.
The Raptors won twice and lost just once in three games, with the 28-year-old leading his team in scoring in all of the games.
Siakam scored 38 points and a season-high 15 rebounds in a 104-101 defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers, before scoring a career-high 52 points in a 113-106 win over the New York Knicks, becoming just the fifth player in Raptors’ history to score 50 points.
He ended the week with 26 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists in a 118-107 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Siakam is enjoying his best season in the NBA since he was drafted in 2016, averaging career highs of 26.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 6.9 assists in 23 games this season.
He is one of only three players in the NBA currently leading their team in points, rebounds, and assists per game, along with the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic and the Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic, who was also named the Western Conference player of the week for the 8th time in his career.
Doncic led the Mavericks to three wins and a loss in four games last week while averaging 31.5 points, 9.0 assists, and 8.0 rebounds.
The 23-year-old scored a season-high 50 points in a 112-106 win over the Houston Rockets.
The Slovenian is second behind Joel Embiid for points per game this season with averages of 32.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 8.7 assists in 31 games this season, his best since entering the league in 2018.
