Russell Westbrook – Oklahoma City Thunder
March Statistics: 30.9 PPG, 10.2 APG, 8.5 RPG, 2.5 SPG, 40% FG, 6.0 TPG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZW9Ew_EpMM
This one is rather obvious. Westbrook and the Thunder have had to deal with the Kevin Durant situation all season, but in March, Westbrook took his game to another level in the prolonged absence of his co-star. The arrival and acclimation of Enes Kanter paid off for his production as well, giving Westbrook a viable offensive option in the post for the first time in his NBA career. Losing Durant didn’t affect Westbrook’s assist numbers too much, as he is often apt to create is own shot when on the floor with him. Still, once it was apparent that the team was his for the rest of the season, Westbrook has shouldered the load in every facet of his game, including steals and rebounds. Sure, his mediocre field goal percentage and high amount of turnovers show that he is certainly forcing the issue quite a bit, but his ridiculous production across the board more than makes up for it. It’s not crazy to expect similar production from Westbrook as the regular season coming to an end, especially with the Thunder’s shaky playoff ground beneath them.
Stephen Curry – Golden State Warriors
March Statistics: 23.8 PPG, 8.0 APG, 3.2 RPG, 1.9 SPG, 48% FG, 3.5 TPG
The late favorite for MVP has definitely lived up to it in March. Curry’s scoring is down a bit from a stellar February, but his assists, field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free-throw percentage are up. His rebounds will always be a hindrance fantasy-wise, but there are far worse things to deal with. Warriors coach Steve Kerr continues to rest Curry during entire fourth quarters in blowout wins, but he has been able to give a full game’s stats in three quarters more often than not. He remains a must-start in nearly every format, and is worth every penny in salary leagues, considering that he can win multiple stat categories single-handily.
Kyrie Irving – Cleveland Cavaliers
March Statistics: 22.6 PPG, 4.9 APG, 2.9 RPG, 1.4 SPG, 47% FG, 2.7 TPG
Irving’s numbers in March aren’t very far off from his season averages, but that’s not a bad thing — he’s just incredibly consistent. Even with sharing the scoring load with LeBron James and Kevin Love, Irving routinely puts up 20+ point games with a solid shooting percentage. Oh, and yeah, he scored 57 points a few weeks ago against the Spurs while playing 47 minutes, so there’s that. Irving’s assist numbers aren’t all that great, but that can be offset by starting him alongside another player with higher-than-average assist numbers for his position. It also helps that he kept his turnovers per game below three in March.
Chris Paul – L.A. Clippers
March Statistics: 22.6 PPG, 10.8 APG, 3.9 RPG, 2.0 SPG, 50% FG, 3.1 TPG
March was Paul’s best month of the season, as his assists and scoring were both season-highs. It’s also worth noting that he had his best shooting month since November. Paul’s assists average in March is especially impressive when you consider that he didn’t have Blake Griffin to lob the ball to for half of the month. Paul’s game is peaking at just the right time, and he should continue to ride this wave out into the playoffs.
Reggie Jackson – Detroit Pistons
March Statistics: 17.5 PPG, 9.2 APG, 5.1 RPG, 0.5 SPG, 45% FG, 3.1 TPG
Wouldn’t you know, Reggie Jackson really does make for a great starter. Yes, he had a shaky start in Detroit, but he has since calmed down and settled in, quietly having a great month for a team that people quit paying attention to. His shooting was very suspect after his arrival to the Motor City, but he has since righted the ship, and is shooting 53 percent from both the field and three-point range in his past five. Oh, and let’s not forget that triple-double last week either, or the 20 assist outing the week before that. Just as his shooting percentage has increased, so have his assists, and that’s about the best you can hope for from a point guard. Now, if he could only generate some steals.
