James Harden, Brook Lopez named NBA Players of the Week

After failing to earn a Player of the Week nod in his first seven NBA seasons, Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez has been given the honor in back-to-back weeks.

Lopez led the Nets to a 3-1 week while averaging 20.8 points and 10.3 rebounds. He's played some of the best ball of his career during this two-week stretch, when he's averaged 24.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks while leading the Nets' surge into the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

Lopez is the first player this season - and the first in Nets history - to win the award in consecutive weeks.

In the Western Conference, a familiar face won, as Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden collected his third piece of weekly hardware this season.

Harden also led his team to a 3-1 week, averaging 36.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists and two steals, while shooting 51.2 percent from both the field and 3-point range.

His week included a career-high 51-point outburst against the Sacramento Kings and he capped it off with 41 points in his league-leading tenth 40-plus-point game of the season in a thrilling win over his former team, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

It's the eighth time Harden has won Player of the Week as a member of the Rockets, the second-most in franchise history behind only Hakeem Olajuwon.