NBA Awards Watch #8 (December 17th, 2012)

Welcome back to NBA Awards Watch, where we take a weekly look at the top-three candidates for each individual award for the 2012-13 season.

A familiar face is back on the Defensive Player of the Year list and there’s a bit of separation happening in the Most Valuable Player race. Could a returning rookie change the landscape of the Rookie of the Year chase?

We’d love to hear what you have to say. Who are your picks? Let us know in the comments section.

Most Improved Player

1. James Harden
2. Jrue Holiday
3. Kyrie Irving

Rk	Player	Season	Age	G	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
1	James Harden	2012-13	23	22	22	39.0	7.4	17.3	.428	1.9	5.7	.333	8.2	9.6	.858	0.9	3.5	4.4	5.3	1.9	0.5	3.9	2.1	25.0
2	Jrue Holiday	2012-13	22	22	22	38.5	7.4	16.3	.451	1.0	3.0	.333	2.6	3.6	.734	1.0	3.0	3.9	8.9	1.5	0.4	3.8	2.7	18.4
3	Kyrie Irving	2012-13	20	14	14	35.2	8.6	18.4	.469	2.1	4.9	.426	4.4	5.4	.827	0.6	3.1	3.7	5.6	1.1	0.3	4.0	3.1	23.8

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/17/2012.

Sixth Man of the Year

1. Jamal Crawford
2. Kevin Martin
3. Ramon Sessions

Rk	Player	Season	Age	G	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
1	Jamal Crawford	2012-13	32	23	29.5	5.4	12.6	.431	1.9	4.9	.384	3.9	4.1	.937	0.1	1.7	1.8	2.3	1.1	0.1	2.0	1.2	16.6
2	Kevin Martin	2012-13	29	23	29.7	4.7	10.2	.464	2.2	4.7	.468	4.3	4.6	.933	0.3	2.3	2.5	1.6	1.1	0.1	1.5	2.0	16.0
3	Ramon Sessions	2012-13	26	23	26.7	4.5	11.7	.387	0.5	1.9	.273	4.8	5.8	.835	0.7	2.7	3.4	4.2	0.8	0.0	1.9	1.3	14.4

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/17/2012.

Defensive Player of the Year

1. Roy Hibbert
2. Tim Duncan
3. Dwight Howard

Rk	Player	Season	Age	G	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
1	Tim Duncan	2012-13	36	24	24	30.5	6.8	13.7	.498	0.1	0.2	.500	3.5	4.5	.787	1.9	8.4	10.3	2.4	0.8	2.5	1.6	1.8	17.3
2	Roy Hibbert	2012-13	26	24	24	28.8	4.1	10.5	.389	0.0	0.0	.000	1.5	2.3	.643	3.9	4.5	8.4	1.5	0.7	3.0	2.0	3.4	9.7
3	Dwight Howard	2012-13	27	25	25	36.7	6.5	11.2	.579	0.0	0.1	.500	5.2	10.4	.498	3.7	8.2	11.9	2.0	1.1	2.6	3.4	3.7	18.2

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/17/2012.

Rookie of the Year

1. Damian Lillard
2. Anthony Davis
3. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

Rk	Player	Season	Age	G	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
1	Anthony Davis	2012-13	19	10	6	28.5	5.2	10.3	.505	0.0	0.2	.000	4.2	5.1	.824	2.3	5.1	7.4	0.8	1.1	2.1	1.8	2.1	14.6
2	Michael Kidd-Gilchrist	2012-13	19	23	23	27.6	4.0	8.4	.479	0.0	0.1	.500	2.4	3.1	.764	1.9	4.4	6.3	1.8	0.8	1.4	1.6	2.6	10.5
3	Damian Lillard	2012-13	22	23	23	38.0	6.5	15.3	.423	2.3	6.3	.368	3.5	4.2	.844	0.7	2.7	3.3	6.3	1.1	0.2	3.0	2.2	18.8

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/17/2012.

Most Valuable Player

1. Kevin Durant
2. LeBron James
3. Kobe Bryant

Rk	Player	Season	Age	G	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
1	Kobe Bryant	2012-13	34	25	25	38.2	9.8	20.6	.478	2.2	5.7	.380	7.7	8.9	.865	0.8	4.4	5.2	5.0	1.6	0.2	3.9	2.7	29.5
2	Kevin Durant	2012-13	24	23	23	39.4	8.8	17.0	.515	1.6	3.6	.439	8.3	9.3	.897	0.7	7.7	8.4	4.2	1.6	1.3	3.3	1.7	27.5
3	LeBron James	2012-13	28	21	21	37.6	10.0	18.5	.541	1.3	3.1	.424	4.0	6.0	.675	1.4	7.2	8.6	6.7	1.3	0.7	2.6	1.5	25.4

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/17/2012.

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Monday – NBA Awards Watch
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