Hoops Habit
Fansided

LeBron James, Giannis Antetokpounmpo gain separation on NBA MVP Ladder 2.0

By Phil Watson

Giannis Antetokounmpo Milwaukee Bucks LeBron James Los Angeles Lakers. Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images).
Giannis Antetokounmpo Milwaukee Bucks LeBron James Los Angeles Lakers. Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images). /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 6
Next
NBA MVP Dallas Mavericks Luka Doncic
Dallas Mavericks Luka Doncic. Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images) /

player. 79. . . Previous: . Luka Doncic. 5

Luka Doncic had been on absolute fire, scoring at least 20 points in 23 of the 24 games he had played entering the Dallas Mavericks Dec. 14 game at home against the Miami Heat. Additionally, he had rolled to 16 double-doubles and eight triple-doubles while leading the Mavericks back into contention in the Western Conference.

Less than two minutes into what would be an overtime loss to the Heat, Doncic stepped on the foot of Miami rookie guard Kendrick Nunn on a drive to the rim. He was unable to get back on defense and left the floor just 1:40 into the game with a sprained right ankle.

Doncic is expected to miss at least two weeks and Malika Andrews of ESPN reported Monday that Doncic was already off crutches and into a walking boot just two days after the injury.

Meanwhile, Dallas is 2-1 without their 20-year-old phenom, ending the 18-game winning streak of the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday before coming home and falling to the Boston Celtics in dropping its third straight home game. So of course they followed that up by hammering the 76ers at Philadelphia.

Since the last ladder dropped, Doncic has averaged 28.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 1.0 steals in 29.6 minutes per game, shooting 46.2 percent overall and 29.9 percent on 9.7 3-point attempts a night over the 10 games in which he appeared. Those numbers took a hit, of course, with his abbreviated performance against the Heat the night he was injured.

For the season, Doncic is putting up 29.3 points, 9.6 rebounds, 8.9 assists and 1.2 steals in 32.2 minutes a night, shooting 48.1 percent overall and hitting 32.6 percent on 9.3 triple tries per game.

The reigning NBA Rookie of the Year is third in the NBA in scoring and assists and is also second in the advanced metrics of win shares per 48 minutes and third in Value Over Replacement Player.