Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Portland's Damian Lillard named NBA Rookie of the Year



Portland guard Damian Lillard was a unanimous choice for NBA Rookie of the Year, getting all 121 first place votes.

"I think the best thing for me is to take it all in," Lillard said. "Then tomorrow I've got to let it go. I've got my whole career in front of me."

New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans big man Anthony Davis was second, getting 96 second-place votes. Bradley Beal from Washington was third.

"I kind of figured I was ahead," Lillard said about the race for the honor. "But I didn't think I had it locked up."

Lillard ranked first among rookies in scoring (19 points per game), assists (6.5 assists) and minutes (38.6).

According to NBA.com, the Trail Blazers had an offensive rating of 105.0 points (per 100 possessions) when Lillard was on the court compared with 93.5 points (per 100 possesions) when the first-year player was on the bench.

When on the court, Lillard assisted on 36.5 percent of Portland's field goals while scoring 23.9 percent of his team's points.

Lillard, the sixth overall selection in the 2012 NBA Draft, made a clean sweep of the NBA Rookie of the Month Award in the Western Conference this season.

He set an NBA rookie record by making 185 three-point field goals, surpassing the 166 triples made by Golden State's Stephen Curry during his 2009-10 rookie season.

When he let Weber State know he was going pro, Lillard announced his goal was to win Rookie of the Year.

"I came out and I proved it up," the 6-foot-3 guard said.

No comments:

Post a Comment