by The NBA most valuable player has not yet been decided – as it should be with just over a month left in the regular season.
Let’s be honest here. In recent years there was a point in which the MVP discussion became really toxic, race was involved and it really felt icky – not that introducing race as far as the preferences of the voters is so insulting, but the whole discussion came away from having great basketball in the middle of all this.
Fortunately that is not the case between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and triple MVP Nikola Jokić. Apparently every night one of the candidates has a strong mark in his favor for the price. Jokić’s historic 30-20-20-20 night against Phoenix on Friday evening. Gilgous-Alexander’s 40-part against Jokić’s Nuggets two days later.
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It will be an agreement on viewing in ways that these teams are usually not – not that they are not good teams with fascinating stories, not that the nuggets have not been worthy that champions still earn to return to the final this spring, or that Oklahoma City has not built in recent years in this year, ready to cash in this year. But Jokić shuns the praise and Oklahoma City is not great in the historical marketing of itself.
But even now no one can deny that we witness one of the big MVP races in modern history.
Jokić is the Win-Shares-per-48 minutes King-a statistical model that has been the largest indicator of MVP throughout history and has a career year across the board with the raw songs. His victory shares per 48 minutes are a career high .316 and he is a triple-double for the first time in his career. His 28.9 points, a career high. His 10.5 assists, a career high. Idem for its 43 percent accuracy of 3-point range, from there shoots better than Stephen Curry, albeit on less volume, but he takes a career-high 4.5 triples per game.
Gilgous-Alexander leads the competition in scoring at almost 33 points and falls in 6.2 assists per match-caretaker-high in both.
Feeling a trend here, people?
This year he dropped 40 points in 11 games and hit 50 Mark four times. He is third in the NBA and gets more than a block of a game and from the waiting position that Michael Jordan-Dwyane Wade Territory enters.
The Thunder has been the best team in the Western Conference. In some respects with all the drama and the revolution in Los Angeles, Dallas and Golden State, the Thunder was easily overlooked.
The Cavaliers are rightly the treasures of the competition (more about them later), but the Thunder is only 1.5 games behind them in the general record on 53-12-one slot to cross the 60-win threshold.
The two-way game of Gilgous-Alexander is the catalyst for that. And are his victory shares per 48 minutes? .315 – Better than any Jokić season except this one.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone, an entertaining type that is susceptible to a little hyperbola, stated that it is not even a narrow race between the two. That is clearly incorrect. You can get up for your husband without insulting anyone else – and hopefully it will not get worse than this.
There are no defined criteria for MVP and that doesn’t have to be. It is one of that “you know when you see it”, kind of things. That’s what makes it fun.
Charles Barkley had the first place votes in 1990, but finished second by winner Magic Johnson-Wat meant that Jordan, who steals an average of 33.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.8 for a team 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, finished third. Third!
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The statement of here in 1997 is that Karl Malone received a somewhat sympathy voice about Jordan, despite the fact that Jordan led his bulls to 69 victories. It then felt Egregious and still feels that way.
Steve Nash, who wins two in 2004 and 2005, does not feel so serious when you consider how he played, heralded a new style with the Phoenix Suns in their seven-seconds or fewer days, pioneering in the game we see today. Shaquille O’Neal is still crowing about it, and Kobe Bryant fans have the feeling that he was robbed in 2006 (he actually finished fourth, so …), but the time here seems to dispel validation.
You had to be there to understand.
And maybe that is where this year will eventually land.
But whoever gets the mood, it will be because a voter thinks the player had the best season and not because it is an indictment of the other candidate.
Again, that is fun and luckily not toxic.
Cavs, Celtics on Collision Course
It feels like we are on a collision course for the final of the Eastern Conference. The Boston Celtics champion against the surprising Cavaliers, who are at a crazy pace.
All profit stripes. The three All-Stars. The competition-best 29-4 home record.
The Western Conference seems to be much more volatile, even with the aforementioned Thunder who leads the peloton. There are a number of possible combinations for a final of the conference – reaching Adam Silver’s dream of an unpredictable competition where play -off results are not determined in advance.
(There are annoyances to a certain extent, fans like knowing who they should love and who they should hate, but this is not all bad.)
In the east, however, a classic matchup could be on the horizon, unless the Milwaukee Bucks crashes the party in the second round – which would not be terrible or cannot be considered with the addition of Kyle Kuzma who pays dividends and Bobby Portis is anxious to return from his PED -Sharing season.
But except that and just that, only that, New York Knicks-Fans-Die would like to repeat a champion against a hungry challenger who has an impressive regular season record and would have revenge as a motivator who regards their play-off matchup last year, provides a convincing basketball.
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We were recently treated to a preview of species, with the Cavaliers who returned from a deep shortage on the road to beat the Celtics on National TV. Perhaps it was just one game of 82 for the Celtics je it would be difficult to find many games that have a great significance for champions as soon as they climb the mountain or perhaps it was the Cavaliers who sent a message that they are not being bullied, that they are much more than a credible foil and that their attack can run into a team in every building.
The last point could be the scariest of all, especially if Donovan Mitchell stays healthy and is fresh enough for a play -off run. The collective NBA world has asked him to weaken his game, to make Darius Garland and Evan Mobley flourish and grow.
Check, check.
Mobley is the most intriguing prospect here and could certainly be the wildcard in a potential series. Will the Celtics have a healthy Kristaps Porziņ European to prevent? Will Horford and Jrue Holiday replicate their versions of last year’s play -offs?
It now feels very unpredictable, but it seems that we are looking forward to an Ornery champion against a determined challenger.
Briefly
The easiest thing to predict in the play-offs, apparently, is a fast flame-out for a team that is experiencing an unexpected year-on-year walk.
But one should not have the Detroit pistons in a series of first round discount. Their 7-3 Post All-Star Mark Trails Only the aforementioned Cavaliers and Celtics in the east, and so far their general improvement in winning the percentage of .383 to the highest in NBA history-good on their way to their most successful season since 2007-08.
That level of satisfaction usually means that a more experienced team benefits from them in a play -off setting, but rejects them at their own risk. Isaiah Stewart may have his own peak film of confrontations, but it is hiding his game on all defense level-niemands has blocked more shots after all-star break than Stewart and he has an average of 2.3 SWATS in that piece, in just 18.8 minutes.
They wear the fourth best defensive assessment since the break, behind the Lakers, Cavaliers and Bucks.
And their best defender could be very good second -year attacker Ausar Thompson. His minutes start to rise completely; He missed the early part of this season that recovered from a blood clot that cost him the back of his smoking year and since then everyone has been careful. Because of the 18 games he missed to start the season, he does not qualify for prizes, but statistically, he would be in second place in Steals per game behind Dyson Daniels of Atlanta and he is a downright teasing that end.
The schedule of the pistons to end the season is Helliclacious, but they are one of the handful of winning records at home and on the road. Logica suggests that a competitive show in the first round is a Uber successful year, but they can become greedy if they stay on six (the fourth seed is a game gone). If they play a potential exhausted and shallow Knicks team in round 1, the Knicks can go home early.
