The NBA announced today that Bobcats center Al Jefferson has been named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played from Monday, March 31 through Sunday, April 6.  Jefferson led the Bobcats to a 4-0 week in which the team clinched the second playoff berth in franchise history. It is Jefferson’s second Player of the Week award in the last four weeks.

Jefferson averaged 24.3 points on .481 shooting (39-81), 13.0 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.0 assist in 37.1 minutes for the week.  He ranked second in the Eastern Conference in rebounding and fourth in scoring and was the only player in the conference to average at least 24.0 points and 13.0 rebounds.

Jefferson was the only player in the Eastern Conference to post three games of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in the week, with 25 points and 10 rebounds on Monday against Washington, 29 points and 16 rebounds on Wednesday at Philadelphia and 24 points and 15 rebounds in Saturday’s playoff-clinching win at Cleveland.

The Bobcats are one of only two teams in the NBA with current win streaks of at least four games.  The team has won six of its last eight games and is 16-8 since the All-Star Break, the seventh-best record in the NBA and fourth-best in the Eastern Conference during that stretch.

Jefferson, who was also named Eastern Conference Player of the Month for March last week, has earned Player of the Week honors seven times in his career and twice this season, along with the week ending March 16.  He joins Gerald Wallace (four times) and Jason Richardson (two times) as the only players to win the award multiple times in a Bobcats uniform.

The following chart shows Jefferson’s game-by-game statistics for the week.