GIANT center Yao Ming was named the U.S. National Basketball Association’s player of the week Monday.

China’s Yao averaged 27.8 points, 10.5 rebounds to garner the Western Conference award while new Boston Celtic forward Kevin Garnett won the Eastern Division award.

Yao, of Shanghai, also averaged 2.8 blocks per game, leading Houston to wins over Charlotte, Milwaukee and San Antonio.

The win over the Bucks featured Yao’s first NBA game against his Chinese compatriot Yi Jianlian and was watched by over 200 million television viewers.

The game featuring China’s two most high profile players was shown nationwide on China Central Television, with 18 regional stations broadcasting it live.

Yao led the Houston Rockets with 28 points and 10 rebounds to a 104-88 win, and Yi scored an impressive 19 points and had eight rebounds in his best-ever NBA outing.

The two players, who are off to great starts in the NBA’s 2007-08 regular season, will be teammates at next summer’s Beijing Olympics.

Garnett claimed the Eastern Conference award after averaging 22.7 points, 15.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists during three consecutive Celtic wins.

The Celtics (5-0) are now the NBA’s only undefeated team.

Garnett had a double-double in each game as the Celtics defeated Denver, Atlanta and New Jersey.

(SD-Agencies)