NBA MVP Race Player Rankings: Luka Doncic finally breaks in

Since last rank: 32.3 PPG, 6.3 APG, 3.7 RPG

Shooting splits: .431/.417/.929

Even without CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic, the Portland Trail Blazers refuse to go away. You can look no further than Damian Lillard to find out why. The Blazers are 2-1 since our last rank, they’re holding firm at fifth in the Western Conference with a 13-10 record.

There are players who have had a better week than Lillard that rank lower, and that’s simply because he’s the true heart and soul for this Blazers team that just needs him to drag them to the finish. It’s the Damian Lillard story encapsulated by a stretch of this season.

Since last rank: 29.3 PPG, 11.0 APG, 9.7 RPG, 2.0 SPG, 1.0 BPG

Shooting splits: .537/.318/.692

The Los Angeles Lakers shouldn’t need overtime to beat the Detroit Pistons and OKC Thunder, but in the past week they’ve needed just that. Perhaps there is indeed a championship hangover in Lakers HQ, but it doesn’t seem to be affecting LeBron James.

They’re 3-0 in the past week, and they very well could have gone 1-2 without LeBron’s heroics against the Pistons and Thunder. Those are games that don’t seem like they’ll mean much, but we don’t know how much time we have left in LeBron’s near-peak era. They all matter.