With the trade deadline over, we can finally relax, take a deep breath, and enjoy the NBA game. On this trade deadline, former MVP winner Harden swapped owners with All-Star guard Ben Simmons, and then, on this frenetic night, Paul's Suns and Alphabet Brother's Bucks met for the first time since the 2021 NBA Finals.
"Obviously, it's not up to the height of the Finals, but it's two competitive teams," Paul said after morning shooting training. "I promise no one will try to lose tonight." In the end, Paul led the team to a 131-107 victory over the Bucks for four straight wins.
Along the way, for the first time since December last year, the Suns limited alphabet scoring to under 20 points. The Suns scored a season-high 68 points in the penalty area, coincidentally, the Bucks' highest chance of losing points on the inside of the season. Paul became the fourth guard in NBA history to reach a career double-double of 500 times and surpassed his opponent in his 11th assists this season.
In the latest issue of the MVP charts, Paul was ranked 4th, while defending MVP winner Nikolai Jokic regained the first place, while Joel Embiid fell to second place. With the arrival of the All-Star Game, the performances of the stars are gradually heating up.
Dallas superstar Luka Doncic scored a career-high 51 points in a win over the Los Angeles Clippers, tying the record for Dirk Nowitzki's highest score in the regular season. Over the past 10 games, Doncic has averaged 31.6 points, 10.3 assists and 9.2 rebounds per game, while Jamorant averaged 32.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game in the same period, leading Memphis to an 8-2 record. The young superstars are tied for sixth place in this week's MVP leaderboard and are steadily catching up with fifth-placed Stephen Curry.
Here's the latest list of MVPs:
TOP1-5: Jokic, Embiid, Alphabet Brother, Paul, Curry
TOP6-10: Doncic, Morant, Booker, DeRozan, Butler