It’s looked like Golden State Warriors have played on cruise control this season. They have been there before — they’ve made three straight Finals appearances, they’ve set both regular-season and playoff records — and they know what it takes to make a deep postseason run. Accordingly, it seems they’ve held back from shifting into high gear. Steve Kerr has even toyed with allowing his players to coach.
The new-look Houston Rockets, meanwhile, have emerged and captured the No. 1 spot in the West. On the other side of the country, the Cleveland Cavaliers have faced constant drama. This has all led to the Warriors, though they remain title favorites, flying somewhat under the radar this season.
Golden State, however, has two legitimate MVP candidates: Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. Though Curry earned the first unanimous MVP in the award’s history in 2016, and he also won MVP the year before, his 2017-18 campaign may be his finest as a pro.
While playing alongside three other All-Stars, Curry is putting up 26.8 points, 6.3 assists, and 5.2 rebounds per game. As ESPN’s Zach Lowe noted, Curry is shooting better and more efficiently than he ever has.
Steph Curry (49.5/42.4/91.8) needs to shoot something like 51-52% from the floor for the rest of the season to hit 50/40/90. On pace for his best true-shooting % ever, and one of the best all-time.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) March 7, 2018
Tuesday, Curry exploded for 34 points on 12-for-20 shooting in Golden State’s 114-101 win over Brooklyn.
He missed 11 games in December as he dealt with a sprained right ankle. That missed time will likely haunt him when it comes to MVP voting.
James Harden, who has finished second in MVP voting the past two years, is the clear favorite to win the award. BasketballReference currently has Curry as the No. 2 favorite, with Harden holding 66.9 percent probability and Curry at 9.2 percent.
It says something about these two teams’ dominance that the top four MVP candidates play for Golden State and Houston. (Chris Paul is the No. 3 favorite, and Kevin Durant slides in at No. 4.)
The Warriors (50-14) are only 0.5 game back of the Rockets (50-13). For Curry to overtake Harden with only 19 games remaining, it would likely require both a surge from Golden State and a collapse from Houston. This award often comes down to the final weeks, though, and stranger things have happened.
