At the denver Nuggets' home stadium, an All-Star stood at the free throw line as spectators chanted "MVP!" MVP！ ”
Throughout the NBA 2021-22 season, we've witnessed countless of these moments, with Nikola Jokic struggling back and forth on the court, and he's directing the Nuggets' games like a conductor. But tonight, it's all not for him. Fans gave their voices to Boston Celtics forward Jason Tatum, who, like a bat rushing out of hell, unexpectedly became the dark horse on the MVP leaderboard.
In the fourth quarter of the game, Tatum hit a three-pointer and stretched the gap to 25 points, then gave a flying kiss to the fans.
'At home you're expecting this or getting this [call], but it's an incredible feeling to see all these Celtic jerseys, T-shirts, hoodies on the road and hear them shouting for you on the road.' Tatum said.
Nuggets rookie Hyland said it was unacceptable to me to hear Boston fans live louder than our fans. The Celtics have transformed from a troubled team to a team that can embarrass others.
Discussions about MVP have been ongoing throughout the season, and this one is no exception. With just a few weeks left before the playoffs begin, as of now, there is still no consensus on who the MVP of the season is. Unless there is a miracle, Tatum is unlikely to catch up with Jokic, Joel Embiid, and Giannis Antetokounmpo on the MVP rankings. But these praises are not empty. With the Celtics beating the Nuggets 124-104 on March 21, they ended their 3-0 record in the West, reaching 44-28, just a little away from third in the East.
The Celtics made targeted adjustments to the Nuggets in this game, allowing defending MVP Jokic to play the worst game of the season. Jokic played 33 minutes and shot 8-of-23, including 2-of-6 from three-point range, for 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists. The stats are ok, but in terms of point differences and efficiency, you can't believe that this is a game played by the famous Joker. Meanwhile, the Celtics once again dominated the game from the defensive end. The Nuggets shot 40 percent from the field, and Tatum and Jaylen Brown played well on the offensive end, both scoring 30 points. At one point, the Nuggets trailed the Greens by 28 points.
The key to the green army's defensive success was to set a trap for Jokic and adopt the strategy of delaying the packing. At the time of the fall, the Green Army kept one big man defending Jokic head-on, and then another inside lineman waiting for an opportunity to assist. Assisting defensive players are generally Robert Williams with better mobility and physical fitness. When Grant Williams and Al Horford tried to stop Jokic's shot, Robert Williams wrapped up in time so that Jokic would be in a dilemma.
"He (Jokic) played very comfortably from the start. He scored 12 points in the first quarter, 4 in the second quarter and seven in the second half. We just gave him too much space at the beginning, which led to him playing very comfortably. We give him different defenses, let him lose his balance, match his alignment in the change of defense, give him different physical confrontations. Celtics coach Imme Uduka said.
The other day, Kevin Durant was asked after the Nets' win over the Trail Blazers about who he thought would be the MVP of the season. Durant thought for a moment and then said, "I'll choose Joel Embiid, Demar DeRozan, ja Morant." It's my top three and I'll probably choose Joel. I mean, you can throw Jokic into the list, but for me you might still choose Joel.
Unexpectedly, embiid collapsed on the same day. The Philadelphia 76ers lost their way under the "dragon" attack and eventually lost to the Toronto Raptors 88-93. Embiid played 37 minutes and shot 6-of-20, including 0-of-3 from three-point range and 9-of-11 from the free throw line, for 21 points, 13 rebounds and two assists.
The two MVP frontrunners were in a slump on the same day so that fans and the media did not know how to "pull the step". If you have to divide the highs and lows, it may be that Embiid and the 76ers are even more disappointing, after all, the 76ers led by 16 points at the most in this game. This is the second time in March that the 76ers have been reversed by an opponent with a lead of more than 15 points.
Moreover, the Nuggets are led by Jokic, and the 76ers are led by two top stars of Embiidga James Harden. The 76ers had two major interior heights, Embiid and Jordan Jr., but the rebounds were snatched up by the Raptors, losing 16 rebounds to their opponents. The inferior Raptors all went out, and if nothing else, they "spelled" in one word. They were indeed like a bunch of hungry Velociraptors, rushing to the 76ers' restricted area to grab 20 offensive rebounds, and although their secondary offensive shooting rate was less than 40%, no one could afford to have 20 more offensive opportunities.
"7' Kobe Bryant" really thinks of himself as a shooting guard, scoring only on free throws on 6-of-20 shooting.
76ers head coach Doug Rivers said in a post-game interview: "We had a very bad performance on the offensive end tonight, except for the first 8 or 9 minutes of the game, we have been performing poorly on the offensive end, we have just been beaten up and we lack a sense of urgency on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends. ”
Because the 76ers play two fewer games, the 43-27 76ers have a winning percentage advantage in the leaderboard. For now, that's the only factor that prevents the 76ers from falling into fourth place.
On Jokic's side, the Nuggets' record reached 42-30, equaling the Minnesota Timberwolves, who have been in hot form recently. However, because the Nuggets have won 1-2 against the Timberwolves this season, the Nuggets ranked behind the Timberwolves and fell to 7th in the West.
The situation in the Western Conference playoffs has been relatively clear, the Clippers, Pelicans, Lakers will undoubtedly be in 8-10, but who is the 6th? Who is the 7th? Neither the Nuggets nor the Timberwolves want to be the team to play the playoffs. From the perspective of MVP selection, if the Nuggets only finished in the 7th place, then Jokic, who is now the most vocal, will not be able to qualify for MVP.
This season, Jokic has averaged 26.1 points (9th in the NBA), 13.6 rebounds (2nd in the NBA) and 8.0 assists (7th in the NBA) in 65 games. In the rebounding rate, assist rate, offensive efficiency, defensive efficiency, victory contribution value and a large number of high-level data rankings, Jokic is also a long-term hegemon. Even if Jokic is so powerful, the MVP award still needs to be supported by the team's record, otherwise it will be difficult to convince the public.
In recent years, MVP selection looks at data, records, and story lines, all three of which are indispensable.
Since the regular season MVP selection entered the era of media voting, no player from the top 6 teams in the division has been elected MVP. Even his election was strongly disputed. That's how Russell Westbrook finally lifted the MVP trophy in 2016-17, but that season the Thunder still ranked sixth in the West. In addition, Durant joined the Warriors, and led the team alone to Westbrook to play the first season of his career to average triple-doubles, directly pulling the story line and statistics full, which allowed him to finally win the cup.
Two weeks ago, Embiid and Jokic showed the world why they are the frontrunners for the NBA's Most Valuable Player. Embiid scored 43 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks to lead the 76ers to a 121-106 victory over the Chicago Bulls to leapfrog the Milwaukee Bucks to second place in the East. After the Nuggets' overtime victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, the Nuggets turned around again to face the understaffed Golden State Warriors. The Warriors, without Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins, fought back, but Jokic scored a triple-double of 32 points, 13 assists and 15 rebounds to lead the Nuggets to a 131-124 victory. A week ago, Embiid and Jokic went head-to-head with 34 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists; another 22 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists. This season, there have been countless such scenes.
Embiid now averages 29.8 points per game and has the potential to become the first center-pointer after Shaquille O'Neal at the end of the season. His performances throughout the season have been absolutely dominant, with the 76ers consistently in the top three in the East, even when the team's number two man, Ben Simmons, refused to play a second for the 76ers. Harden made an emergency reinforcement before the trade deadline, joining 76 people. Recently, however, the pair of Harden and Embiid seems to have passed the honeymoon period, showing some sense of separation. If the 76ers slipped in the closing round, were overtaken by the Celtics, or even dropped to 5th place, it would inevitably affect Embiid's MVP vote.
Lying "healing" the letter brother, suddenly sat up. What to say? Did the top three compete and compete for the MVP trophy in the end?