NBA News NBA News, Match Reports and Updates 
[ad_1]
Now that every team will have hit the 41-game mark Friday night, it’s time to honor the best performers from the season’s first half. Without further ado, here are our midseason award winners …
The Midseason MVP is …
Kevin O’Connor: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is having the best season on one of the most dominant teams in recent memory. The Thunder are dominant with him on the floor — he leads the NBA in scoring, makes his teammates better, and defends at a high level — and they’re quite average without him. I’d lean toward making him my choice at the midway point of the season. But Jokić is better than he’s ever been and his case will be strengthened if Denver can close the wins gap with OKC by the end of the year. The Nuggets have the NBA’s second-best net rating since Dec. 8, the day they turned their season around. If the Nuggets grab the second seed in the West, and get to mid-50s in wins, then it’ll be hard to argue against Jokić no matter how great SGA has been.
Ben Rohrbach: Nikola Jokić. Third in points per game. Third in rebounds per game. Second in assists per game. Fourth in steals per game. Second in 3-point percentage. This is for the entire NBA. We have to seriously start considering whether this is the best statistical season ever. With Thursday’s 35-22-17, Jokic’s Player Efficiency Rating climbed to the highest in history (33.6) — ahead of Jokic’s own 2021-22 MVP campaign. And quietly his Denver Nuggets are two wins from second place.
The MVP race between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokić is as close it gets. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images)
Vincent Goodwill: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Not because “it’s his time” or anything arbitrary that has led to some questionable MVP finishes, and it’s not because he suddenly turned into the best player, because that’s still Nikola Jokić. But he’s been consistently, pole to pole, the most impactful player on winning thus far, on both ends. Jokić has caught him on the advanced metrics, but having a team that’s fourth in the West is a demerit. SGA is incredibly efficient (32 points on 53 percent…
[ad_2]Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/2024-25-nba-midseason-awards-mvp-top-rookie-and-the-leagues-most-pleasant-surprise-195215101.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2025-01-24 19:52:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
