NBA scores 2018: James Harden’s still comfortably the MVP, and 5 more things from Sunday

Harden’s just been incredible.

Feb 26, 2018, 1:00 PM UTC

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

I believe that the NBA MVP race, barring something catastrophic or historic, is wrapped up. James Harden’s lead over the pack has him comfortably out in front, at least from my understanding of the race, and from MVP polls like this one at The Washington Post. That shouldn’t detract from some very worthy, very qualified candidates that can’t quite reach Harden’s peaks.

Sunday was a relatively quiet night in the league, but the MVP candidates were out in full force. For example:

LeBron James! He had 33 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists, and shot 56 percent from the field. Somehow, it wasn’t enough for a win. But the new-look Cavaliers will be asking plenty from James, and his once-prominent candidacy that took a severe dip during the brief Isaiah Thomas era is back on track, even if Harden has virtually pulled out of reach.
Anthony Davis! The least-talked-about MVP candidate scored 27 points with 13 rebounds and two of both steals and blocks. He might sneak into my top-three before the season’s up if he can keep shouldering the load left by DeMarcus Cousins’ Achilles rupture. Which, by the way, is still so so so so sad. :(
Giannis Antetokounmpo, but I’m going to skip the exclamation point, since he wasn’t great on Sunday. Still, he’s averaging 27.8 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.3 blocks. His defensive skills stand out more now that the Bucks have shed Jason Kidd’s misguided, overly aggressive system. He’d be my top pick right now if Harden didn’t exist.
Joel Embiid had 25 points and 10 rebounds. He’s a Defensive Player of the Year candidate — probably the favorite right now — and his MVP candidacy has probably been underrated. He’s a serious sleeper for Zach Lowe’s fifth vote, is what I’m tryna say. But he also doesn’t play enough to be seriously considered any higher than that.
And James Harden, of course, topped literally all those performances with 41 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, all while needing just 20 shots to get there. That’s silliness. One more month like this — or, like, even a month that’s 75 percent what he has been all year — and Harden should finally get that MVP trophy he’s been chasing for three seasons.

Houston’s new additions are fitting in

Brandan Wright played 15 minutes, had a couple buckets, and was plus-15. Joe Johnson recorded a heftier 26 minutes while scoring five points and tossing a couple assists, too. Those aren’t juicy totals, but small moves like this make sure Houston won’t run into the seven-man rotation they were forced to break out last postseason. Gerald Green is probably best as a situational player, rather than a rotation regular. Nene’s extremely reduced minutes plan is even easier to implement with Wright, even if I’d still opt for him in the playoffs. But hey, Wright’s just sitting there on the bench if you need him.

I really like Houston. If Golden State’s beatable — something that the jury is still out on, since they didn’t appear to be last year — then I like Houston’s chances.

Andre Drummond’s skill explosion

Drummond’s fresh off the NBA Skills Competition, and clearly it rubbed off in an extremely good way.

It’s not just this. Drummond is slangin’ around-the-back dribbles to shake Kemba Walker like it’s nothing, but he’s also improved across the board:

His free throw percentage has gone from 39 percent last year to 63 percent this one. Drummond is currently the worst free throw shooter with more than 2,000 attempts in NBA history, but a couple seasons in the 60’s should erase that ignoble record.
Drummond also turned into a passer. It’s partly improvement and partly a new role in Detroit’s system, but still, Drummond averaged just 1.1 assist per game last year and he’s up to 3.6 now. That’s an amazing jump.

Drummond’s gonna be a true unicorn by next season if he keeps this up.