New York, January 13: The National Basketball Association (NBA) on Monday announced Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes and Denver Nuggets wing Peyton Watson as the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for Week 12 of the 2025-26 regular season (January 5–11).
Barnes earned the honour for the second time in his career after leading Toronto to a 3–1 record during the week. The Raptors’ cornerstone averaged 22.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists while logging 36.4 minutes per game across three contests.
The highlight of Barnes’ week came Sunday night against Philadelphia, where he poured in 31 points, added eight assists and seven rebounds, and sealed an overtime victory by knocking down the game-winning free throw with 0.8 seconds remaining.
Now in his fourth NBA season, Barnes continues to deliver across the stat sheet. Through 39 games, he is averaging 19.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.3 steals per game. He has already posted 16 games of 20 or more points, including four 30-point outings, along with 18 double-doubles. Earlier this season, Barnes was also named Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month for October/November, and he remains the only player in the NBA to record at least 700 points, 300 rebounds, 200 assists, 50 steals and 50 blocks this season.
In the Western Conference, Peyton Watson captured his first career Player of the Week award, becoming the 20th player in Denver Nuggets franchise history to receive the honour. He is the third Nugget to win the award this season, joining Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray.
Watson powered Denver to a 3–1 week, averaging 24.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.8 blocks in 38.7 minutes per game, while shooting an efficient 50.0 percent from the field, 70.0 percent from three-point range, and 66.7 percent from the free-throw line.
The 22-year-old made his mark in several marquee performances, beginning with a 24-point outing in an overtime win at Philadelphia on January 5, followed by a 30-point performance at Boston two nights later. He continued his strong run with 25 points and 11 rebounds against Atlanta on January 9, recording just the second double-double of his career, before closing the week with a well-rounded effort against Milwaukee.
Watson ranked first in the Western Conference in three-point percentage (minimum 10 attempts) during the week and became one of only three players in the conference to shoot 50 percent or better from the field and 60 percent or better from deep over the same span (minimum three games).
On the season, Watson is averaging career highs of 13.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steals in 29.1 minutes per game, while shooting 50.3 percent from the floor, 41.3 percent from three, and 73.0 percent from the line.
The heroics of Watson and Barnes have kept their teams firmly in the playoff picture as the league approaches the midpoint of the 2025–26 season. Denver sits third in the Western Conference with a 26–13 record, while Toronto is fourth in the Eastern Conference at 24–17.
Source:NBA
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