PG’s Kyrie Irving And Ricky Rubio Win NBA Rookie Of The Month For January
CLEVELAND, OH – It appears that Spain and Australia have given the first NBA Rookie Of The Month Awards an international flavor as fellow countrymen Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Ricky Rubio of the Minnesota Timberwolves have brought their own distinctive accents to the hardwood.
Irving, A dual citizen of the United States and Australia, would be selected by Cleveland as the top overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft out of Duke, was named Rookie of the Month in the Eastern Conference Thursday, as he would lead all rookies in scoring with 18.1 points per game.
The Melbourne-born, New Jersey-raised Irving would also rank second in shooting percentage at 51.1 percent and assists with 4.9
Irving would score a career-best 32 points—including 24 points in the fourth quarter—in a 99-96 loss to the New Jersey Nets and cap a 12-0 Cavaliers run with a game-winning layup to beat the Boston Celtics, 88-87.
Rubio, a 6’4, 180-pound slick-passing, sharp-shooting guard from El Masnou, Spain, who has been compared to Hall-Of-Fame guard “Pistol” Pete Maravich, would be named NBA Rookie Of The Month in the Western Conference.
Rubio would average 12 points and 9.1 assists in 18 games for the up-and-coming Timberwolves. For the season, Rubio has averaged 11.4 points per game, 4.7 rebounds and 8.9 assists.
The Spanish sensation would score 13 points and a career-best 14 assists in a 93-72 victory over the Washington Wizards, and score a career-best 18 points in wins over San Antonio and Houston
Rubio would also score 18 points and have 12 assists in a 93-91 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
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