Giannis leading All-Star voting in Eastern Conference, named player of the month again

By: Justin Thompson-Gee Facebook | Twitter

Posted: Jan 3, 2019 3:41 PM CDT

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has been named the NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month for December, the second month in a row he won the award. This is the third time in his career that Antetokounmpo has won Player of the Month.

While leading the Bucks to a 10-4 record in December and to the top spot of the NBA standings, Antetokounmpo averaged 25.6 points, 12.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 60.3 percent from the field. He scored 30 or more points in seven of his 13 games in December, including a career-high-tying 44 points against the Cavaliers on December 14, and had six games with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds. Antetokounmpo capped off 2018 with his 12th career triple-double on Dec. 29 against Brooklyn, scoring 31 points with 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Giannis also won the previous two Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors. On the season Antetokounmpo is averaging 26.3 points (10th in the NBA), 12.6 rebounds (6th in the NBA), 6.1 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 58.6 percent (10th in the NBA) from the field.

The NBA also announced today that Antetokounmpo is leading all Eastern Conference players in the first fan returns of 2019 NBA All-Star Voting with 991,561 votes.

All-Star starters and captains will be announced on January 24. If Giannis leads all Eastern Conference players he will be captain which means he will draft a team and instead of East vs. West it will be Team Giannis vs. Team (likely) LeBron.

No other Bucks player made the top 10 list on All-Star voting but can still be picked as reserves.

Bucks fans can vote Antetokounmpo and the rest of the Bucks starting lineup into this season’s All-Star Game by visiting www.bucks.com/allstar. All fan votes count double for today, January 3.