LeBron James Named Eastern Conference Player of the Month for Third Straight Time

CLEVELAND – LeBron James is clearly in playoff form heading into their first round series this Sunday against the central division rival Detroit Pistons. The NBA has certainly taken notice at what the Cavaliers forward has been doing on the court over the last few weeks.

Friday afternoon, James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for April. It’s the third month in a row LeBron has won the award. James has now won the honor 20 times as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and an NBA record 32 times in his career.

In five of the Cavaliers seven regular season games in April, James averaged an Eastern Conference-best 28.8 points on .656 (59-90) shooting from the field, including .563 (9-16) from the three-point line, .895 (17-19) from the foul line, 8.4 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 1.4 steals in 36.8 minutes per game.

James registered two double-doubles and scored more than 30 points in three of his five outings in April. He was also the lone player in the NBA to average at least 25.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists for the second consecutive month. The 12-time NBA All-Star scored in double figures in each contest this month to extend his double-digit scoring streak to 717 games, the third-longest in league history, behind only Michael Jordan (866) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (787). Earlier in the month, the 6-8 forward climbed up the NBA’s all-time scoring list, passing Oscar Robertson (26,710) for 11th place during an overtime win over Atlanta on April 1, and now has 26,833 points for his career.

In 76 starts this season, James averaged an Eastern Conference-best 25.3 points , 7.4 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game. LeBron has earned at least three Player of the Month awards in five different seasons (2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13, 2015-16). James and the Cavaliers had the best record in the East for the third time in franchise history at 57-25, which includes a 33-8 mark at Quicken Loans Arena.