The MVP race isn’t over despite Joel Embiid having a monster game
The case for Giannis: He’s the best player in the world.
He’s the best player on the best team in the NBA record wise.
They have the best record in the NBA despite Khris Middleton, their second best player, missing 47 games. Part of that is because of Jrue Holiday’s play, but a lot of it is because of Giannis.
Between him, Embiid, and Jokic he is the best defender. He can guard the 1 through the 5. He is a difference maker on the defensive end. Did you see the block against the Wizards last night?
He’s averaging 31, 11, and 6. He’s the best player on the team with the best record. Giannis could easily win the MVP.
The case for Embiid: He’s been the most dominant.
When he catches the ball at the free throw line or below it’s an automatic two points every time.
He’s leading the league in scoring, while shooting 55% from the floor. He has been insane and recently he’s been on an absolute tear.
He has similar numbers to Shaq when he won the MVP in the 99-2000 year. Embiid’s scoring is a little higher, but Shaq averaged a few more rebounds.
He’s not just doing it offensively though, his defensive presence is important for this 76ers team. When he isn’t on the floor they look so much worse defensively. It’s a large part of why when he wasn’t on the floor last night the 76ers were outscored by 15.
He’s been dominant all year. There is nobody who can stop him, let alone matchup with him.
The case for Jokic: He’s won the MVP 2 years in a row and he’s better this year than those last two years. He also leads in all of the advanced stats.
Player efficiency rating he’s first with 31.7
True Shooting percentage he’s first with 70.2%
Total rebound percentage he’s sixth, but he’s in front of Giannis and Embiid
Assist percentage he’s second behind Tyrese Haliburton
When you see these numbers you would think that he’d have a super high usage rate, but he doesn’t he’s 32nd. Giannis is first and Embiid is third.
He has a greater impact on offense than Giannis and Embiid despite having the ball less.
If you want the best player vote Gianns
If you want the most dominant player vote Embiid
If you want the most efficient player vote Jokic
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Western Conference 4,5, and 6 seeds:
I don’t know who the best team in the Western Conference is.
Phoenix is the most talented, but they haven’t played together long.
The Lakers look great post All-Star break, but I don’t trust AD to stay healthy
GSW hasn’t been consistent.
Phoenix is going to be the 4 seed. If I was them I wouldn’t want to play the Lakers. I’d rather play the Warriors.
I know Andrew Wiggins is supposed to be back, but he’ll be out of game shape and I don’t think his impact will be as great as normal.
Mainly though, the Lakers look really good right now.
Anthony Davis is locked in and when he’s locked in there aren’t many players better.
Austin Reaves has stepped up.
Lebron is back. The jump shot isn’t great right now but the more he plays he’ll eventually find the rhythm again.
They finally have guys who can defend and shoot the ball. Combine that with the level AD is playing at and Lebron it’s a team that no one wants to see right now.
