NBA Awards Watch: Week 13
This is week 13 of the 2013-14 regular season edition of HoopsHabit’s NBA Awards Watch. Throughout the season, we cover the potential winners for each award. Make sure to check back every Monday for the up-to-date projections.
Most Valuable Player
It was just another usual week for Durant, averaging 36 PPG in four games played. After missing Friday’s game against the Celtics with a sore shoulder, KD helped the Thunder win on the road in Philadelphia with a triple-double. As the most complete player in all of basketball, James is shooting a ridiculous 58% from the field this season. George has been the best player on the best team in the league, scoring 36 points in a close win against the Kings on Friday.
Most Improved Player
In his second season, Davis continues to flash his future MVP potential and on Sunday against the Magic finished with 22 points, 19 rebounds, seven blocks and two steals. He’s still averaging 20 and 10 a night, so let’s see if he gets selected as an All-Star reserve this Thursday. Same goes for Stephenson, who posted back to back double-doubles against the Kings and Nuggets. Thomas is averaging about six more points per game than last season (averaging 20 this season) and scored 38 points in a big game against the Pacers.
Rookie of the Year
MCW scored 31 points against the Wizards and followed that game up against the Knicks with 19 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. Burke hit four 3s and had eight assists against the Wizards, while Oladipo had 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds Friday against the Lakers.
Defensive Player of the Year
- Anthony Davis
- Roy Hibbert
- Serge Ibaka
In four games last week, Davis had a total of 19 blocks and 10 steals. The league’s shot-blocking leader is the only player averaging over three blocks a game. Against Sacramento on Friday, Hibbert had five blocks of his own. Last week, Ibaka had three games with five blocks.
Sixth Man of the Year
It’s quite a luxury for the Clippers – currently the fourth seed in the West – to have a veteran like Crawford coming off the bench. He’s upped his scoring to 17.9 PPG and had 37 points and 11 assists in a high-scoring affair against the Raptors. It was a relatively quiet week for Young, as he only scored more than 20 points in two of the five games. Waiters is averaging 14.4 PPG as the sixth man for the Cavaliers in 29 minutes per game.