Blazers G Damian Lillard Wins Rookie Of The Month For December

The NBA announced Wednesday that Portland Trail Blazers rookie guard Damian Lillard has been named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for December. Lillard also won for October/November.

Here's the NBA's release.

The Washington Wizards' Bradley Beal and the Portland Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard today were named the Kia NBA Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month, respectively, for games played in December.

Lillard led all rookies in scoring (18.4 ppg), assists (6.3 apg) and is tied for third among NBA point guards with 16 games of 20-plus points. On Dec.13 against the San Antonio Spurs he became one of just 12 NBA players to record at least 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists in a game this season.

Highlights:

• Dec. 1 @ Cleveland: Scored 24 points, established a career-high with 11 assists and added six rebounds in a 118-117 (2OT) win over the Cavaliers.
• Dec. 13 vs. San Antonio: Had a career-high 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists in a 98-90 win over the Spurs.
• Dec. 22 vs. Phoenix: Posted 25 points and seven assists in a 96-93 victory over the Suns.
• Dec. 26 vs. Sacramento: Tallied 17 points, set a career-high in rebounds (eight) and tied a career-high with 11 assists in a 109-91 win against the Kings.

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month were Charlotte's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Cleveland's Tyler Zeller, Detroit's Andre Drummond, and New Orleans' Anthony Davis.

Here's more from the Blazers.

Lillard, 22, led all rookies in scoring (18.2 ppg), assists (6.9 apg) and 3-pointers made (28) while helping lead Portland to a 9-4 record in December. His scoring average ranked 23rd in the NBA, and he placed 11th among league leaders in assists.

The 6-foot-3 point guard has now earned back-to-back Kia NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month honors. He joins Brandon Roy (January, February and March 2007) as the only Trail Blazers in franchise history to win the award multiple times.

On Dec. 26, Lillard became the third-fastest Trail Blazer to reach 500 points in team history (27 games), trailing only Sidney Wicks (21 games) and Geoff Petrie (25 games).

Lillard is the only Trail Blazer to appear in all 30 games this season. Portland selected Lillard with the sixth overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.

The Weber State product holds season averages of 18.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, a team-high 6.3 assists and 1.07 steals in 37.9 minutes.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter