Westbrook, LeBron named players of the month for February

Perhaps never before have the NBA's Player of the Month awards been so easy to predict in advance.

February belonged to LeBron James in the East and Russell Westbrook in the West, with both working to re-establish their respective teams as legitimate title contenders and put their names firmly in the MVP discussion despite earlier absences.

James was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month on Wednesday, the first time he's been given the nod this season and the 27th time in his career. Seriously. 27.

Appearing in all but one of the Cleveland Cavaliers' games, James led the team to an 8-3 mark for the month, averaging 24.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 48.1 percent from the floor. He's now averaging 26.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 7.2 assists on the year for a Cavs team that's suddenly 38-24 after a 19-20 start.

Westbrook, meanwhile, earned Western Conference Player of the Month honors for the first time after a historic February that saw him join Oscar Robertson as the only player ever to go 30-9-10 over an entire calendar month. His Oklahoma City Thunder went 9-3 in February and 5-2 during the month without Kevin Durant, with Westbrook averaging 31.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 10.3 assists.

He also won the All-Star Game MVP award and broke his face.

The Thunder are now back in a playoff spot after a tough, injury-plagued start to the year. Their 33-27 record is in large part a product of Westbrook's 26.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 8.1 assists and two steals per game.