Two weeks after we first ranked our Playoff MVP candidates, the NBA is nearly through two rounds of what has been a thrilling — and grueling — postseason. What better time to reexamine those candidates.
Your NBA Playoff MVPs, ranked (so far) …
1. Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets
There is no way to describe Jokić other than as a bruising force. He will collect bruises on his heavily scratched arms, and he will deliver them, plodding his way to most anywhere he wants. Double-team him, and he will find his open floor-mate. Single-cover him, and he will get to the paint, where he can finish over or around anyone with either hand. Do not guard him, and he will punish you from distance, too.
He has done it all masterfully in these playoffs, defeating the deeper Los Angeles Clippers in a seven-game, first-round series and pushing the 68-win Oklahoma City Thunder to a seventh game in Round 2.
In victory, Jokić totaled 42 points, 22 rebounds and six assists in Game 1 of their second-round series, joining Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shaquille O’Neal and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players ever to register a 40-20-5 in any postseason outing. Even in defeat, Jokić posted a 44-15-5 in a pivotal Game 5.
He is the game’s best passer, maybe its best rebounder and one of its most efficient scorers, becoming the first player ever to finish in the NBA’s top three in points, rebounds and assists in the regular season. In these playoffs, after a win in Game 6 against OKC, Jokić leads all players in each of those categories.
If only Jamal Murray could be so consistent, Denver might be the favorite to win its second championship in three seasons. As it is, an already short rotation is strained. Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. are playing through ailments. But Jokić is Jokić, handing out bruises of his own. He is the Nuggets’ shot, and it is a good one. The game’s best player will pay a visit to the game’s best team for a Game 7. What fun.
2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
Gilgeous-Alexander is surgical. He slices to his spot, absorbs the harm and finishes with precision. He can stitch together 30 points in his sleep, for he has put in the necessary work to make his greatness routine.
The 26-year-old went toe-to-toe with the best player in the world, Nikola Jokić, in Game 5 of a tied second-round playoff series and came out the victor, collecting 31 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds.
Where would the Thunder be without Gilgeous-Alexander? Not here. They are outscoring the Nuggets by 12.3 points per 100 possessions when he is on the court and operating at a deficit whenever he rests. All of that is great, but what stands out most about Gilgeous-Alexander is his leadership of this young team.
As he said following the Game 5 victory against Denver, “You’re only as good as your weakest link and all 10 of our guys are ready to go no matter the stage, and you guys see it every night.” He is their driving force, and without him they are only nine guys in need of a superstar to carry the playmaker’s burden.
3. Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
It was hard to imagine Brunson — a 6-foot-2 former No. 33 overall pick — ever being this good, but here we are. He moves like an old prizefighter, methodically stepping out of trouble and into his next punch.
And he delivers a lot of them, especially in a game’s biggest moments. He has scored a league-leading 109 fourth-quarter points in these playoffs — in only 91 minutes. That is almost as many fourth-quarter points as Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokić have scored combined. It is practically unfathomable production.
His 39 points in a backbreaking Game 4 win over the defending champion Boston Celtics were as sublime as his series-winning shot to cap a 40-point night in Game 6 against the Detroit Pistons. As teammate Josh Hart has said, “Clutch Player of the Year for a reason.” More than that, though, Brunson is the grit by which the Knicks define themselves. He is tough as nails, even if he sells fouls with the best of them.
Brunson holds Madison Square Garden in the palm of his hands, and he channels that energy into runner after runner, free throw after free throw, dagger after dagger, until his opponents mercifully relent. The best thing we can say about him is that it is hard to think he can perform any better in big moments, and yet he surpasses our expectations every time, just as he has every stage of his career. Never doubt him.
4. Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers
Haliburton is a high-speed luxury automobile. It would be frightening how fast he moves if he were not so smooth with it. He can also slow it down, turn with precision and make simplicity look remarkable.
Haliburton is just as efficient driving to the basket or pulling up from outside, and he can set anyone up in between. He may be the game’s best facilitator not named Nikola Jokić, and that has been a winning formula for a Pacers team that has made a second straight surprise run to the Eastern Conference finals.
He has also hit two game-winning shots in these playoffs — one to eliminate the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round and another to take a 2-0 series lead against the 64-win Cleveland Cavaliers in round two.
With only a few weeks of retrospect, to think anyone could vote him “the league’s most overrated player” is reprehensible, though if we imagine his victims are those submitting the votes, it is easier to imagine.
5. Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
Edwards is the embodiment of a young Michael Jordan in ways we have not seen in some time, moving with a combination of agility and grace that makes even the world’s most supreme athletes jealous.
The 23-year-old has the Wolves in the Western Conference finals for a second straight season, something Kevin Garnett — and everyone else in franchise history — could not match. It is mainly because of Edwards and his nightly 27-8-6 on 45/39/74 shooting splits. There is another level to reach, one still several steps away from what that Jordan guy did, and the third round is the stage for him to get there.
Nobody in Minnesota has gotten to the NBA Finals, because it is hard to build a contender in a small market. Except when you stumble into a player of Edwards’ caliber. He is only a kid in this league, and he is loudly building what is a winner’s resume. It is not his fault that LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers and Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors offered little resistance, but it is his fault that both were sent home so early in their series. As he awaits either Gilgeous-Alexander or Jokić in the next round, this test is no easy one, but Edwards has answered every question correctly through the conference semifinals.
6. Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers
7. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
8. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
9. Julius Randle, Minnesota Timberwolves
10. Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
Honorable mention: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks; Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic; Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons; Aaron Gordon, Denver Nuggets; Kawhi Leonard, Los Angeles Clippers; Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers; Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets; Alperen Şengün, Houston Rockets; Pascal Siakam, Indiana Pacers; Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder.
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