James Harden took over the top spot of the MVP Power Rankings last week, and he still has that spot this week, albeit barely. But the man nipping right at Harden's heels this time isn't Stephen Curry. It's Anthony Davis.
Anthony Davis moves just short of the top MVP spot
James Harden is still our No. 1 MVP candidate, but he just barely held off the Pelicans star.
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
1. James Harden (Last week: 1)
Harden holds on to the top spot despite an underwhelming week. The Rockets star stuffed the stat sheet as usual, but he failed to score 20 points in two of three games -- he shot 4-of-21 in one of those -- and Houston lost the game in which he scored 26 points.
Harden suffered a knee injury in the Rockets' last game, but he's not expected to miss any time. Harden can help strengthen his MVP case in the coming month, because Dwight Howard will likely miss extended time with his own knee troubles.
2. Anthony Davis (Last week: 3)
Davis has a PER over 32, which will be the best mark of all-time if it sticks, according to Basketball-Reference.com. And remember, he’s just 21 years old.
3. Stephen Curry (Last week: 2)
Curry has failed to reach 40 percent shooting four times in the last two weeks, which is an uncharacteristic slump. Don’t expect it to last too much longer.
4. LeBron James (Last week: 4)
The Cavaliers have still lost just once since James returned to the floor after missing eight games from late December to mid-January. James has Cleveland hot on the heels of Chicago thanks to an 11-game winning streak (he missed the Kyrie Irving 55-point explosion). When he's not busy dominating, he's busy being a gentleman:
5. Marc Gasol (Last week: 6)
Don't look now, but the Grizzlies are 36-12 and just 2½ games behind the Warriors for the top spot in the Western Conference. Memphis has won seven games in a row, and although Gasol hasn't had many noteworthy individual performances during the streak, he remains the team's most important player.
Gasol showed that importance when he blocked Markieff Morris at the buzzer to secure a victory over the Suns on Monday:
6. John Wall (Last week: 5)
The Wizards are slumping, having lost three straight games. Wall has shot poorly in two of those games, but he also nearly notched a triple-double in the third game, a narrow defeat against Toronto.
Washington has been a disaster all season with Wall on the bench, and it only got worse after the last three games. The Wizards have been outscored by more than eight points per 100 possessions with the point guard on the bench this year, per NBA.com.
7. Klay Thompson (Last week: 7)
Thompson's flaming hot hands finally cooled last week, or at least his shooting from three-point land did. The shooting guard even failed to hit a three in a loss to the Jazz, just the third time that has happened this season.
Even so, Thompson maintained a strong overall and shooting percentage, and I think we can cut the guy a little slack for a little slump from three.
8. Jeff Teague (Last week: 8)
The Hawks’ winning streak may be over at 19 games, but Teague isn’t going anywhere unless there’s some sustained struggling. The point guard has seen some regression in his shooting over the past week, though he showed signs of getting out of his slump in the loss to New Orleans.
Teague will have a chance to make a statement in Atlanta’s next game, an Eastern Conference showdown against Wall and the Wizards.
9. Blake Griffin (Last week: 10)
Griffin continues to be an assist machine, racking up at least five assists in three of four games in the last week. He’s averaging more than five assists this year.
10. LaMarcus Aldridge (Last week: 9)
The Blazers have struggled lately, but that’s no fault of Aldridge. The power forward put up 38 and 37 points in consecutive losses in addition to grabbing 11 rebounds in both of the games.
The fact that Aldridge continues to perform at a high level despite his injured left thumb is impressive. For Portland’s sake, hopefully he can keep it up.
Next five: Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Damian Lillard, Kyle Lowry, Al Horford.
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