The votes are in and final, and here we announce the Players of the Month and Rookies of the Month for March!

East POTM – James Harden

Well we had a month off from the James Harden onslaught but with 80% of the 1^st place votes, James takes his 3^rd POTM award ahead of last months winner Kevin Durant. It’s been said before, but Harden is the Knicks and he amassed averages of 31.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.9 steals and 0.6 blocks while shooting it 46% from the field, hitting 129 of 131 FTA and turning it over a season month low 2.1 times. The Knicks are 7-3 in their last 10 and are now sitting a game clear in 4^th in the East, so they’re a week away from claiming a possibly all important home court advantage over their long time expected 1^st round opponents Milwaukee. The Knicks will look to finish the season strong, and as long as James is firing, they’re not out of the Finals picture. Congratulations James Harden on 3x POTM!

West POTM – John Wall

Like the East, the West are revisiting their months past with this award as John Wall also took 80% of the 1^st place votes to take POTM for the 2^nd time ahead of Kyle Lowry. Wall had his best month of the season, far better than his November month win, with averages of 25.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 9.2 assists, 1.9 steals and 0.8 blocks, while shooting 52% from the field and 95% from the line. The Nuggets have come flying home after an injury spurred lull in the middle of the year, and once they sured up their frontcourt at the trade deadline, they have projected themselves way back up to 3^rd in the West, currently on a 14 game win streak. Wall has led the charge, with his most prolific scoring month of the season, and the Nuggets are now back to being a legitimate threat to take the West by storm in the playoffs. Congratulations John Wall on 2x POTM!

West ROTM – Dangelo Russell

We’ve only had one Western conference ROTM…and we still do again after this month. That’s all 4 months now for DRuss as he took 60% of the 1^st place votes to win over teammate Frank Kaminsky. He had a bit of a bounce back month this month averaging 21.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 2 steals and 0.4 blocks on a season best 46% shooting, but still had the rookie pains of 3.8 turnovers, which is expected when you’re handling the rock as much as he is on an inexperienced team that’s floundering. GM Andrew isn’t quite sure yet whether he’s a PG or a SG, and some are suggesting he’d rather him be a SG, which leads to some interesting moves to come with so much other wing depth on the roster as DRuss is almost certainly not going anywhere despite his inappropriate videoing habits. Congratulations Dangelo Russell on 4x ROTM!

East ROTM – Kristaps Porzingis

And what award ceremony would be complete without Kristaps Porzingis? He’s now also a 4x ROTM as he took 85% of the 1^st place votes to beat out teammate Myles Turner. Are we seeing a pattern here also? 2 teams in the rebuild phase, with a top rookie, winning all awards! Kristaps had his best offensive month of the season averaging 19.9 points, with 9.8 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.5 steals and 1.3 blocks on 44% shooting, 44% from deep and 95% from the line. The big man, as we’ve been preaching all year, is the future of the Hornets and the team has now crept up to 34 wins on the season which is pretty respectable! Incidentally, this is the last week Zinga is eligible for a ROTW award, and it’s also the last week we’ll be seeing him play as he’s been ruled out for the final week of the season. With a young core around him, the Hornets look in great hands, set to add another handful of youth to the mix this offseason. Congratulations Kristaps Porzingis on 4x ROTM!