NBA MVP Race Player Rankings: James Harden back into the top 10?

Since last rank: 33.3 PPG, 7.5 APG, 4.3 RPG, 1.5 SPG

Shooting splits: .447/.357/1.000

With CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic out for the Portland Trail Blazers, all the pressure falls on Damian Lillard’s shoulders to keep his team afloat. Over the past week he’s done his best to do just that. The Blazers are 2-2 in their four games but he’s averaged 33.3 points in 39.0 minutes per game.

As usual, Lillard is doing everything he can to help his team win. And now all he needs to do is keep up this torrid scoring pace for the next month or two until his teammates are back and healthy. For almost anybody else, that’s simply too much to ask, but Damian Lillard might actually be able to get the job done.

Since last rank: 29.0 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 6.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 1.3 BPG

Shooting splits: .548/.375/.464

Giannis Antetokounmpo is rounding into form now for the Milwaukee Bucks, although you’d like to see his free throw percentage go up rather than down. Antetokounmpo is a couple made threes away from having the rare descending shooting split with field goal percentage dipping to 3-point percentage and dipping again to free throw percentage.

Be that as it may, he’s an absolute force of nature everywhere around the basket and he’ll need to continue to be so, especially when the Bucks face the Brooklyn Nets. If the Nets have a major weakness right now, it’s interior size, and Antetokounmpo could completely ruin them around the basket.