NBA Awards Watch: Week 4
By Ben Nadeau
Most Valuable Player
1. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors (Last Week: 1, –)
Yawn. Did you know that Stephen Curry has made more three-pointers than three NBA teams? (Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Brooklyn Nets) Or did you know that Stephen Curry passed his dad, Dell, on the all-time three-pointers made list? Of course you did, because you’re a good, self-respecting NBA fan.
Which is ultimately my point here — you don’t need me to tell you how good Stephen Curry has been this year, you have eyes, ears, and heart that appreciates the heck out of this strange sport. Of course, the Warriors are still undefeated — a likely unimportant fact in the grand scheme of things, but, for now, it lends credence to just how untouchable Curry and these guys have been thus far.
Curry’s Best Line of the Week: 11/12 vs. MIN — 46 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 0 blocks, 3 TOs, 15-25 FG%, 8-13 3-Pt%
Week Grade: A
2A. Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers (Last Week: 2, –)
If you believed my hype last week about how Paul George and Kawhi Leonard were knocking on Blake Griffin and Russell Westbrook’s doors for the runner-up spots here, you might be confused to not actually see any change here this week. Look, I was tempted, I really was, believe me.
But it appears as if the majority of the Western Conference frontrunners have stumbled out of the gates in some way, shape, or form. So while plopping George or the surging Spurs’ leader here is an option, it’s important to remember that the NBA season is a marathon, not a sprint.
So, yes, maybe next week if the Los Angeles Clippers or Oklahoma City Thunder drop a few more winnable games, I’ll give more consideration to Leonard, George, and LeBron James — but, for now, can’t we just appreciate Griffin and his downright fantastic per game averages?
A stat line of 26.6 points, nine rebounds, 4.3 assists, 0.8 steals, 56 percent from the field, enough said.
Griffin’s Line of the Week: 11/14 vs. DET — 34 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, 1 blocks, 2 TOs, 14-25 FG%
Week Grade: B+
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2B. Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder (Last Week: 2, –)
This is an interesting moment in time for Russell Westbrook. That’s not to say that moments with Westbrook aren’t interesting; in fact, when he’s cascading down the floor and destroying innocent rims on a daily basis, there’s no one more interesting than the Thunder guard. No, this is interesting because Kevin Durant’s injury puts an interesting pressure on Westbrook once again.
Despite Westbrook’s other-worldly statlines to finish the 2014-15 season, the Oklahoma City Thunder went just 16-12 following Duran’t season-ending injury in mid-February. And, of course, the Thunder failed to make the playoffs in the stacked Western Conference because of it.
Thus, the following question must be asked: although Westbrook obviously ups his game without Durant in the lineup, does it matter if they’re only winning a little better than 50 percent of their games?
Since Durant went down on Nov. 10, the Thunder are just 1-2 and the one win came against Philadelphia, so, yeah. I’m very interested (there’s that word again) to see how the already struggling Thunder deal with Durant’s injury and how Westbrook does (or doesn’t) fill up the statsheet in the name of winning.
Westbrook’s Line of the Week: 11/13 vs. PHI — 21 points, 17 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals, 0 blocks, 6 TOs, 8-22 FG%
Week Grade: B+
Honorable Mentions: James Harden, Houston Rockets; LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers; Paul George, Indiana Pacers; Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat; Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans; Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder; Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers; Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs; John Wall, Washington Wizards; Eric Bledsoe, Phoenix Suns.
Next: NBA: 50 Greatest Players Of All Time
Week 1: Stephen Curry
Week 2: Stephen Curry
Week 3: Stephen Curry
Week 4: Stephen Curry