Kobe, LeBron earn NBA honors for March

Bryant led the NBA with an average of 40.4 points in during the month, joining Wilt Chamberlain (seven) as the only players in league history to score 50 or more points in four straight games. Bryant totaled 65 points, seven rounds and three steals in a 116-111 win over Portland on March 16, and registered 50 points and seven rebounds in a 111-105 win over New Orleans on March 23.

James ranked first among Eastern Conference players with a 30.3 points per game average. Cleveland went 11-5 during the month.

He opened the month with five straight games of 32 points or more and had eight games of 31 or more points. He scored a season-high 41 points and added eight assists and seven rebounds on March 7 in leading the Cavaliers to their first win in Detroit in over three years.

In other monthly award news, Miami’s Pat Riley and San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich were named the Coaches of the Month and Charlotte’s Walter Herrmann and Portland’s Brandon Roy were named the Rookies of the Month.

Riley guided the Heat to an 11-4 (.733) record in March. The Heat limited their opponents to 9.4 fewer points per game than they had allowed in games through February (57 games). Miami finished the month with the best record and winning percentage in the Southeast Division, and tied the Cleveland Cavaliers for the most wins in the Eastern Conference.

Popovich led the Spurs to a 13-2 record last month with an average margin of victory of 15.2 points. San Antonio was also the first team to ever win consecutive road games by 37 or more points while playing on back-to-back nights.

As a starter, Herrmann averaged 18.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists, while shooting 62.5 percent from the field. Over the last nine games, he averaged 14.8 points and posted double-figure scoring in nine of the 13 games he appeared in.

Roy, the sixth overall selection in the 2006 NBA Draft, has started in all 14 games played this month. He led all rookies in points (18.4 ppg), assists (4.8 apg ) and minutes per game (38.1), and has also increased his rebounds per game from 3.4 to 5.4.