Carter, Nowitzki takes NBA’s top honors for December

Carter averaged 28.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists to lead New Jersey to a 10-4 record. The Nets ended the month with an eight-game winning streak, in which Carter has averaged 32.8 points per game.

His big game on the month came during a 95-88 win over Miami when he tallied a season-high and career-high tying 51 points.

Nowitzki averaged 27.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists for Dallas, which went 12-4 in December He posted seven games of 30 or more points, recording a season-high 37 in a 105-95 win over Sacramento on December 22.

The Rookies of the Month were Charlie Villanueva of the Raptors and Chris Paul of the Hornets.

Villanueva, the seventh overall pick, led Toronto’s bench in scoring in 10 of 13 games played in December. The team went 3-0 when he scored 19 or more points. The Raptors went 7-7 in December after recording a 1-15 record in November.

Paul, the fourth overall pick, also won this award for November. He averaged 16.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 2.6 steals during December.

The Coaches of the Month were Detroit’s Flip Saunders and San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich.

The Pistons went 13-2 in December, giving Saunders his second straight monthly honor. The 13 wins were the most for the Pistons in December.

Popovich led the Spurs to a 13-4 month, holding opponents to a league-low .419 shooting. The Spurs, maintaining the best record in the Western Conference, ranked second in the league in field goal percentage (.480) and held opponents to 89.6 points per game (third in the league) in December.