2013-14 MVP Discussion Thread Pt III

[Run DLC]

I don't think he will play well tonight against the Rockets, but if he by some strange miracle that he ends up putting up 40 points on 60% or more shooting, then he'll leapfrog Durant in the race. I have a feeling that Durant will retaliate with a huge game tonight, I hope he fails.

[Run DLC]

On one hand, I want Durant to win the MVP just so that LeBron can go off in the playoffs and prove that he's still better. I like the playful LeBron and all, but i think he plays better when he's 100% focus without giggling around, etc. On the other hand, I'd love to see him get his 5th league MVP and that would be amazing if he end up winning 3 straight back-to-back regular season MVP and finals MVP since you know who(MJ).

[BadWolf]

Durant’s February: 33.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 7.4 assists with a true shooting of 60.5 percent. Per Elias, Durant is on the second player in NBA history to put up those kinds of numbers in a full month since Oscar Robertson.

(Oh, and LeBron’s February, where he was supposedly closing the gap on KD: 30.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, 6.7 assists with a true shooting of 64.1 percent.)

[KL78192020]

It's a bit sad that the race is gonna be decided by who has a 60 point game, who has a couple of dunks on national TV on a big game, or who outplays each other on the 2 (!) games they have head to head, instead of who plays better basketball steadily over the whole season. I guess that's what you get when you give votes to the Skip Bayless of the world while the Zach Lowe's don't have a right to vote.

It will probably end up coming down to the team record, and if the Heat can take the East from Indy.

[Side beard]

If Wade goes out and Lebron&Bosh wins atlast 80% of March games, I can see him equal with KD in MVP race. Otherwise, its KD by mile.

[TheProfessor]

KD but lebron is right behind waiting to rip KDs neck out on route to another MVP, These next 2 games are going to be super important.

[koolcrud]

If only there was a major, stickied thread on the MVP race. But seriously, KD, who has done more with less all season.

[heatwillbeback]

It's going to come down to team record IMO

[Hero]

LeBron - Better team record and means more to his team.

[Hero]

I'll be shocked if Lebron has a good game today, back to back night @ Houston, after dropping 61 the night before, sounds like a trap

Rested Wade is back. Surely he will make a difference since the rest of the team is on a back to back and he's on 3 days rest. Heat need to continue winning and catch up with the Pacers.

[kidco2]

Couple more of 60 pts games will seal the deal for Lebron.

[HotRocks34]

Durant’s February: 33.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 7.4 assists with a true shooting of 60.5 percent. Per Elias, Durant is on the second player in NBA history to put up those kinds of numbers in a full month since Oscar Robertson.

(Oh, and LeBron’s February, where he was supposedly closing the gap on KD: 30.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, 6.7 assists with a true shooting of 64.1 percent.)

In a word, no.

First of all, LeBron has his own "February record." This one:

http://www.nba.com/mvp-ladder/?ls=iref:nba:gnav

Durant went crazy in January, creating a nice bit of separation between himself and the rest of the MVP pack (including James). But LeBron has bounced back with an epic run of his own. Per Elias Sports, he is the first player since Shaquille O'Neal in 2003 to put together a calendar month (a minimum of five games) averaging 30 or more points and eight or more rebounds while shooting better than 57 percent.

Toss in LeBron's seven assists a game this month and only Wilt Chamberlain, in February of 1966, has had a run like that.

Now, here's what the above citation from, I think it is, "Daily Thunder" omitted.

Durant TO/gm in February = 4.9. That is his worst full month of the season for the stat.

Also, NBA.com uses something called PIE rather than PER. The higher the number, the better. Durant's is 20.9% for the year. For February, it was 19.2. In January it was 23.9. Which is to say, Durant regressed considerably in February from both January and his season average in PIE.

Finally, Durant's ORTG and DRTG for February were 106.8 and 103.9, for a Net Rating of 2.9. The DRTG was Durant's worst month of the season to date. Durant's Net Rating for the year is around 8.0 or so. So February was well off his season norm.

LeBron TO/gm in February = 3.7

LeBron PIE for the year = 20.4%. In January it was 17.2. In February, it was 22.0.

LeBron's ORTG and DRTG for February were 115.0 and 104.3, for a Net Rating of 10.8. LeBron's Net Rating for the season is also around 8.0 or so. So February was better than his norm.

There's no comparison. And using the Daily Thunder stats, for the TS%, you get that if LeBron shot more, he would have scored more than Durant in the month, as well. For February, Durant shot 23.5 FGA/gm and LeBron shot 20.7 FGA/gm.

Durant Jan > LeBron Jan
LeBron Feb > Durant Feb


REFERENCES
===========

Durant stat page --- basic (shows by month)
http://stats.nba.com/playerStats.html?P ... de=PerGame

Durant stat page --- advanced (shows by month)
http://stats.nba.com/playerStats.html?P ... de=PerGame

LeBron stat page --- basic (shows by month)
http://stats.nba.com/playerStats.html?P ... de=PerGame

LeBron stat page --- advanced (shows by month)
http://stats.nba.com/playerStats.html?P ... de=PerGame

[Keller61]

LeBron - Better team record and means more to his team.

Durant means more to his team this season because of how much time Westbrook has missed. Durant played at an unbelievable level during Westbrook's absence and got the Thunder to the #1 seed in the west. I would give MVP to KD at this point but LBJ is closing in.

[inquisitive]

LBJ now...if Westbrook was out till April...likely KD.

[twomangame]

Durant if it ended today. That stretch where he carried OKC with insane numbers and efficiency and without Westbrook for a large part is his winning point, IMHO. Lebron is the best basketball player no doubt, but KD has proven he is the most valuable player to his team so far, though by a small margin.

[DayofMourning]

If Durant trolls everyone and drops 70 on Philly tonight............

I'd love to see this actually. Would be an interesting narrative moving forward.

[Hoopz Afrik]

Kevin Durant

[hisairness]

The funniest thing as I read last few pages of the previous MVP thread are posters that were calling out Durant supporters for thinking the race is not close and then went on to "and1" the guy that said "Lebron has this and it's not even close". It's too good.
At the beginning of February I had Durant leading 65-35 %, i still have him leading but it's probably something like 52-48 now. Can't afford to have too many stinkers like he had against Bobcats.

[DayofMourning]

And, for what it's worth, I could care less who wins the MVP. Both are fantastic players and a credit to the league.

[Run DLC]

Durant still has the lead, but it's super close. If he doesn't wake up soon and separate himself even further to make it hard for LeBron to catch up, then he's in trouble. All Miami has to do now is keep winning. Man, i really hope OKC and Pacers lose tonight.