NBA Awards Watch: Week 5
By Ben Nadeau
Most Valuable Player
1. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors (Last Week: 1, –)
Let’s see, what’s new in the week of Stephen Curry?
Well, the Golden State Warriors are the new, sole owners of the best start in NBA History at 16-0. In fact, some analysts are even saying that there’s very little chance the Warriors will be threatened until Christmastime.
As you’ve read in the paragraphs above, we’ve got Draymond Green, Luke Walton, and Andre Iguodala either leading or in the mix for other major award honors and they’ve sent the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers into equally terrible tailspins.
The constant? Stephen Curry.
Curry still has more three-pointers than Brooklyn (70) and Minnesota (66) with 78 and it seems like he effortlessly drops 20, 30, and 40 points without breaking a sweat. CurryMania is here, embrace it.
Curry’s Line of the Week: 11/19 vs. LAC — 40 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 7 TOs, 11-22 FG%, 6-14 3PT%
Week Grade: B+
2. Paul George, Indiana Pacers (Last Week: –, Up 2)
He’s back! PG13, who made our list back in Week 1, has returned to the MVP rankings in the fine fashion after leading the Indiana Pacers to a 9-5 record. Even cooler, the former All-Star is rounding into that fantastic MVP-type form we saw from him before that brutal injury he suffered with Team USA two summers ago.
Sure, it’s early, but George has statistically improved across the board upping his averages to 25.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.6 steals on 46 percent shooting. Now, George has scored more than 20 points in every game since Nov. 4 as well.
Over that period of time, they’ve just lost two tough divisional games against the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers and have gone 9-2 since starting the season 0-3.
Welcome back, Paul.
George’s Line of the Week: 11/18 vs. PHI — 34 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, 3 TOs, 6-17 FG%.
Week Grade: A
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3. Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder (Last Week: 2, Down 1)
Thanks in part to Russell Westbrook’s across the board contributions, the Oklahoma City Thunder have righted that once wobbly ship, brought Kevin Durant back from injury, and now finally find themselves near the summit of the Western Conference.
As for Westbrook, most of the shock of his absurd box scores has not only worn out, but now we expect him to score 40 and flirt with a triple-double. Does anybody else in the NBA have those type of standards day in and day out?
The Thunder will be unhappy with their record, seeing as they’ve already fallen behind the Warriors past the point of return, but they’ll be very thankful this Thursday that they’ve got their two superstars healthy with home-court advantage in the first round.
Westbrook’s Line of the Week: 11/22 vs. DAL — 31 points, 5 rebounds, 11 assists, 5 steals, 1 block, 7 TOs, 12-22 FG%
Week Grade: A-
Bounced Out: Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers
Honorable Mentions: James Harden, Houston Rockets; LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers; Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers; 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
Week 5: Stephen Curry