Damian Lillard bags NBA Player of the Seeding Games award

The 30-year-old point guard has been in remarkable form since the restart.

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard has been named the NBA Player of the Seeding Games and leads the NBA All-Seeding Games Team as well, while Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams has been picked as the NBA Coach of the Seeding Games after guiding the Suns to an 8-0 record in these games.

Designed to honour top performers for games played since the restart, the NBA Player of the Seeding Games, NBA All-Seeding Games Team and NBA Coach of the Seeding Games were selected by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters who have been on-site covering the 2019-20 season restart at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

Damian Lillard averaged an NBA-high 37.6 points and 9.6 assists in the seeding games, leading Portland to a 6-2 record. The Trail Blazers won their final three seeding games, with the point guard scoring 51 points against the Philadelphia 76ers, tying his franchise scoring record with 61 points against the Dallas Mavericks, and finishing with 42 points and 12 assists in a victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

He was unanimously selected as the NBA Player of the Seeding Games, receiving all 22 first-place votes for a total of 110 points. Phoenix guard Devin Booker (58 points) and Indiana Pacers forward T.J. Warren (14 points) finished in second and third place, respectively. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

Damian Lillard, Booker and Warren were voted to the NBA All-Seeding Games First Team, which also includes Dallas guard Luka Doncic and Houston Rockets guard James Harden. Lillard, Booker and Doncic were named to the first team on all 22 ballots for a total of 66 points, followed by Harden and Warren with 58 points each.

The NBA All-Seeding Games Second Team comprises Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, Brooklyn guard Caris LeVert, Denver Nuggets rookie forward Michael Porter Jr. and Dallas forward-center Kristaps Porzingis. Antetokounmpo led the second team with 36 points, including eight first-team votes.

The media panel voted for five players for the All-Seeding Games First Team and five players for the All-Seeding Games Second Team, choosing a total of 10 players at any position from either conference. Players were awarded three points for a first team vote and one point for a second-team vote.

Phoenix's Williams, who led the Suns to the NBA's only unbeaten record in the seeding games and the franchise's first eight-game winning streak since the 2009-10 season, was selected as the NBA Coach of the Seeding Games with 20 of 21 first-place votes (103 points). Portland's Terry Stotts received the other first-place vote and finished in second place with 41 points, followed by Brooklyn's Jacque Vaughn (18 points) in third place. Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

The NBA previously announced the 2019-20 finalists for the NBA Performance Awards and the NBA Coach of the Year. TNT will announce the award winners during its coverage of the playoffs. Voting by a media panel for those awards, in addition to the All-NBA Team, NBA All-Rookie Team and NBA All-Defensive Team, was based on games played from the start of the regular season through March 11 and did not include the seeding games.