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Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant named Players of the Month
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Two of the NBA’s early front-runners for the 2021-22 MVP Award have been named the Players of the Month for October/November. Warriors guard Stephen Curry won the Western Conference award, while Nets forward Kevin Durant is the Eastern Conference winner, the league announced Thursday (via Twitter).

Curry led Golden State to an 18-3 record in October and November, averaging 27.8 PPG, 6.6 APG and 5.7 RPG with an impressive .452/.412/.943 shooting line in 20 games (34.3 MPG). According to the NBA (Twitter link), Curry beat out fellow Western nominees Devin Booker, Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis, Paul George, Nikola Jokic, Ja Morant and Karl-Anthony Towns for the award.

Durant, meanwhile, led the NBA in scoring in October and November at 28.6 PPG. He also put up 7.5 RPG and 5.6 APG and shot .539/.389/.863 in 20 games (35.8 MPG). His Nets sit atop the Eastern standings with a 15-6 record. The other Eastern nominees for the award were Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland, Giannis Antetokounmpo, LaMelo Ball, DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Tyrese Maxey and Trae Young.

The NBA also announced its Rookies of the Month for October and November Thursday, awarding that honor to Thunder guard Josh Giddey in the West and Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley in the East (Twitter link).

Giddey has immediately slid into the starting lineup for the lottery-bound Thunder and filled up the box score with 10.4 PPG, 7.2 RPG and 5.8 APG in his first 20 games (29.4 MPG), though he struggled with his shooting efficiency (.391/.257/.654). Mobley, meanwhile, has been the most impressive of the rookie of the 2021 class so far, posting 14.4 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.5 APG and 1.8 BPG in his 17 games (33.8 MPG) in October and November.

The other nominees for the Rookie of the Month Awards were Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Davion Mitchell and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl in the West and Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham, Chris Duarte and Franz Wagner in the East (Twitter link).

This article first appeared on Hoops Rumors and was syndicated with permission.

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