Tower of Power: Breaking Down the NBA MVP Race

(Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Sure, that’s one game but for arguably the most consistent player in league history, that just didn’t used to happen, especially in a game of that magnitude.

What is a more realistic gauge of what to expect of this Duncan came Wednesday against the Hornets. He put up 20/19 and carried San Antonio defensively down the stretch. But he took 11 shots to Tony Parker’s 21 (and 29 points) and in an overtime game, played 34 minutes to Parker’s 43.

In other words, he’s still capable of big performances from time to time, he’s still the face of the franchise, he’s still one of the best players in the league defensively… but it’s not his team anymore. With Duncan turning 33 in under two weeks and Ginobili falling apart, it’s very clear that San Antonio is now Parker’s team and will go as far as he’ll take them.

11. Deron Williams

He averaged 19.4 and 10.7 assists on 47 percent shooting. Not too shabby given that he was playing on a busted ankle all season, and he deserves a lot of credit for being Utah’s ballast in a year where Carlos Boozer slogged through a mere 37 games and Andrei Kirilenko had an emotional meltdown.

Regardless, Utah is a very soft No. 8 seed that can’t win on the road and despite the level of talent on the team, can be termed nothing short of a major disappointment.

Ultimately, Williams didn’t help his team overachieve but rather helped mitigate the degree of their underachievement. There’s a huge distinction between the two, and it’s the reason why he can’t be taken seriously in the MVP discussion.

Tier IV: Very, Very Good

10. Paul Pierce

Carried Boston on his back after Garnett went down for the season, to the tune of 23-6rpg-3apg for last three months of the season.

Boston’s bench, which was shaky during their title run last year, took a step back this season with virtually no reliable depth on the wing so he stepped up and played the more minutes than he had in three years while guarding the opposing team’s top perimeter scorer night after night.

The numbers aren’t as gaudy as they used to be, but he’s learned how to win and is a better player overall.

9.  Yao Ming

All season long, I expected Houston melt down like they always do. First it was concerns about Ron Artest blending in as a third option...then it was Rafer Alston tearing up the locker room by calling out his own teammates...after that it was TMac settling into his all-to-predictable period of missing half the season due to injury...and finally it was who would run the point after the mercurial Alston, still the team’s starting point guard for over three years, was dealt at the trade deadline.

At one point, I was even entertaining the notion that they, not Phoenix, would be the odd team out in the West.

Except they just...kept...winning, in large part due to Yao playing in a whopping 77 games, his highest total since 2004-2005. Sad as it is to say, Houston became a much better team when McGrady went down for the year because it forced them to back to basics on offense.

Instead of trying to divide up shots between TMac, Yao, and the ball hungry Artest, the Rockets structured the offense through Yao and attacked defenses based off how they played him.

As a result, this is Houston’s best chance to get out of the first round. They’ve found an identity on offense; play tough D with three great man-up defenders in Artest, Shane Battier, and Chuck Hayes; and get solid production through the use of platoons at point guard (Kyle Lowry and Aaron Brooks) and power forward (Luis Scola and Carl Landry). But make no mistake; this team is built around Yao and is much better for it.

8. Brandon Roy

One of the useful new stats in the NBA’s information revolution is “effective age,” which averages the ages of a team’s players and weighs it against minutes played. I bring this up because Portland, at 24.7 years, is the youngest team to win 50 games since 1980, and they have Roy to thank for it.

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