Kia MVP Ladder: There is no easy way to enter this season’s fray

Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell broke it down the best he could on Tuesday when asked what type of player deserves to be mentioned in the conversation about Kia’s MVP.

Keep in mind he had just led Utah to their fifth straight win and 16^e in his last 17 outings against a formidable Boston Celtics team. He scored a high 36 points with nine assists while dominating the last 5 minutes and 25 seconds scoring 10 of the team’s last 18 points, while handing out dimes for the other eight.

Suspicious of the question asked by Sarah Todd of the Deseret news, Mitchell paused for a tick.

“I think first and foremost that the most important thing is team play,” said Mitchell. “It’s of course the MVP award, but you can’t do it without a team, and we played well. I think for me, considering them as the best team, we are doing our thing, we have a lot to do. But we’re definitely doing our thing right now, just doing plays. It is not necessarily having 35 [points], ten [rebounds], and 10 [assists]. He does whatever is necessary. And I feel like my teammates trust me. I trust them. And I’m not worried about it. I know what it is. [I’ve] I’ve been here for four years and the fans know we don’t necessarily get all the credit we deserve, and that doesn’t just set me apart.

“I feel like we are using this as a chip on our shoulder,” he added. “I’m just very lucky to be in this position where my teammates trust me to go and play games like this. The other thing, if it happens, it happens. I think the most important thing is to win. Winning takes care of everything. Winning heals everything. The exterior stuff is what it is. It does not depend on me. I’m just going to go out there and be the best teammate I can be and go from there.

I tried really hard to get Donovan Mitchell to subtly say he deserved to be in the MVP conversation. It almost may have worked? pic.twitter.com/ndMCOfAVw8

– Sarah Todd (@NBASarah) February 10, 2021

He’s not wrong here, and no one else is voicing strong opinions on what is shaping up to be one of the tightest races for the MVP award in recent memory. With Mitchell headlining, the Jazz enter Friday’s game against Milwaukee with the best record in the NBA. He averages 28.6 points, 6.2 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals during Utah’s five-game winning streak.

Still, he won’t bring Mitchell up in this week’s Kia race in the MVP standings, which is a testament to the quality of the pitch. LeBron James remains No. 1 with some changes in the hierarchy of the second and third levels of candidates.

Stephen Curry climbs a bit after lighting up Orlando for 40 points on Thursday at 17^e career game and second this season with 10 points or more at 3 points, before leaving the ground as this. Damian lillard Also climbs, after racking up 19 of his 30 points in the first quarter of an overtime win over Joel Embiid and the 76ers, while Jazz great Rudy Gobert makes his Ladder debut.

And now, the Top 5 this week in the 2020-21 Kia race in the MVP standings:

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1. LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers

Season statistics: 25.5 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 7.9 apg

Ranking last week: No. 1

James didn’t shoot particularly well in Wednesday’s overtime win over the Thunder, but he went into the clutch. That’s one of the main reasons the Lakers continue to lead a season-high six-game winning streak, as they have won in nine of their last 11 games. In Los Angeles’ three OT wins this season, James has scored at least 40 minutes, making him the first player aged 35 or over in league history to play more than 40 minutes in three straight OT wins. .

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2. Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers

Season statistics: 29.1 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 1.3 bpg, 1.3 spg

Ranking last week: No. 2

Embiid got off another quick start against Portland with 23 points in the first two quarters for his eighth-best NBA game this season with over 20 points in the first half, before scoring just 12 more in the second half of the OT loss on Thursday. He has scored over 25 points in 10 straight games, becoming just the fourth 76er to accomplish this feat. The loss to Portland marked the first time Philadelphia suffered a loss this season with its full starting lineup of Embiid, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, Seth Curry and Danny Green.

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3. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets

Ranking last week: n ° 3

Season statistics: 26.9 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 8.6 apg, 1.6 spg

The day after last week’s Kia MVP drop, Jokic hit Sacramento with a 50-piece despite the Nuggets missing their starting short. The 50 points was a career high, but Jokic also contributed 12 assists, eight rebounds and three blocks to become the first center since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1975) to put in 50 points and over 10 assists. Jokic enters Friday’s game against OKC (9 ET, NBA League Pass) averaging 32.3 points in their last three games, but the Nuggets need to rack up a few wins as they’ve lost three of their last four.

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4. Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets

Ranking last week: Number 4

Season statistics: 29.5 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 5.2 apg

In such a competitive MVP field, you can’t miss matches unnecessarily. But Durant gets a pass here because of the reasoning behind his absence. Durant is expected to return on Saturday against his former team, the Golden State Warriors. Durant hasn’t played with James Harden and Kyrie Irving since Brooklyn’s Feb.5 loss to the Toronto Raptors. When KD runs out of time, the return games are scary. In the four competitions he’s played this season after missed games, he’s averaged 34.3 points, shooting 54.3% from the field, 41.7% from depth and 90.7% from the pitch line. frank.

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5. Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers

Ranking last week: n ° 5

Season statistics: 26.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 5.1 apg, 1.8 spg

After 17 of 40 shots and 0 of 7 of 3 points in two straight losses, Leonard racked up a season-high 36 points on Wednesday against Minnesota to help the Clippers slip. Entering Friday’s game in Chicago (8 ET, NBA League Pass), Leonard is averaging 28.2 points in his first five games in February. The Clippers will have to rely more on him with Paul George (right toe) for the current road trip. Leonard has a reputation for being a closer, but we need to see more of that in winning time as he’s 4-6 this season in clutch situations.

Got any thoughts on pursuing the Kia MVP? Hit me by email or send me a tweet!

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The next five:

6. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

7. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors

8. Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers

9. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks

10. Paul George, LA Clippers

And five more: Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz; Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics; Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn Nets; Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz; Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics.

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Michael C. Wright is a senior writer for NBA.com. You can send him an email here, find his archives here and follow him on Twitter.

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