This season's NBA hegemony has almost reached its peak in recent seasons. James, Curry, and Durant have all reached the age of 35. For most players, at this stage of their careers, they have almost only played the role of veterans in the locker room. However, for these superstars who have influenced the league for more than 10 years, their time is still there. has not passed. Although Curry has encountered an unprecedented difficult situation this season, Green has been suspended multiple times, and Thompson and Wiggins are in extreme sluggish condition. But Curry personally averaged 29.1 points, 5 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game, while shooting 42.2% from the outside. The 39-year-old James averaged a Lakers-leading 25.3 points per game, as well as 7.5 rebounds and 6.7 assists. The Lakers currently rank fifth in the Western Conference with a record of 15 wins and 10 losses.
The Big Three of Durant, Booker, and Bill finally made their first combined debut of the season, but they suffered a tragic defeat against the Nets. Durant averaged 30.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, and his three-point shooting percentage reached 48.4%. He is the only player in the league this season who has averaged more than 10 points per game and has more than 5 rebounds and assists. Players with a rate above 45%. For these veteran superstars, pursuing personal honors such as scoring titles and MVP titles does not have much appeal. The championship is their ultimate goal. After a quarter of the regular season has been played, most players have returned to normal levels. A blast of 64 points! Scored 54 points! An ugly win so you have a hard time earning respect!
In any case, the most powerful contenders for MVP this season are nothing more than three players, Embiid, Jokic and Antetokounmpo. Jokic is the top player among them. This season, Jokic averaged 27.2 points per game, the league's first 12.6 rebounds, and the league's third-highest 9.4 assists. Of course, Jokic's efficiency on the court is far less than his performance last season, especially his accuracy near the basket in the paint and three-point shooting is not as good as his normal level. However, this season, due to Murray's injury absence, Jokic's usage rate has greatly increased, and his average number of shots per game has increased, which is also the reason for the decline in efficiency.
Embiid has ushered in a comprehensive outbreak on the offensive end. Embiid has scored at least 40 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists in just 3 quarters three times this season. This has been the case in more than 20 seasons. The only player to do this since. Moreover, Embiid averaged 33.8 points, 11.5 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game, leading the league in points per game. Of course, Antetokounmpo, who followed closely behind, performed equally well. In the past five games, Antetokounmpo has been able to score 30+ points in a single game with a shooting percentage of over 65%. Not only that, in the past 12 games, Antetokounmpo averaged 35.5 points, 12.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game, and his shooting percentage reached 65.6%. The game against the Pacers was a milestone game in Antetokounmpo's career, and Antetokounmpo's terrifying performance even overshadowed Lillard, who surpassed Korver in cumulative three-pointers in the same game and ranked fifth in history.
In the game against the Pacers, Antetokounmpo scored 64 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and 1 block in only 37 minutes. The most shocking thing is that Antetokounmpo did this when he missed all three outside shots. This is also the highest score in a single game by a player without making a three-pointer since the league began to collect three-point statistics. And Antetokounmpo's 64 points are also the highest scoring record in team history. However, Antetokounmpo's performance has also been questioned by the outside world, because after scoring 32 free throws in the game against the Pacers, the total number of free throws so far this season has reached 260. Among players in the league who have made more than 200 free throws this season, only Antetokounmpo and Embiid have done so. But that game against the Pacers was really ugly. Portis' ejection was still minor, Pacers general manager Richard also suffered an elbow hit, Antetokounmpo's concealed elbow against Haliburton, and the game Later, a conflict almost broke out again over the issue of the match ball.
As for the competition for the game ball, the Pacers said they did not want to take it away from Antetokounmpo, but wanted to keep it as a souvenir for rookie Tshiebwe's first career score.Antetokounmpo was criticized by outside fans for staying on the court to score points after the game lost suspense, and this may be the real reason why the Pacers wanted to take away the ball. This season, Antetokounmpo has frequently fought when facing the Pacers' defensive efficiency, which is among the bottom three in the league. In the first matchup between the two teams, Antetokounmpo scored 54 points and 12 rebounds, but Lillard's absence left the Bucks without a major offensive point, and ultimately ended in defeat. From leading his team to win the championship, to his performance in scoring points against weak teams many times this season, Antetokounmpo has been increasingly questioned, which may also be the reason why he cannot be respected.
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