Durant Stepping It Up

Kevin Durant's recent tear has distanced his team in the standings and himself on the MVP ballot.

     Let's start with a quick update on Kevin Durant's MVP campaign. His PER is second behind Mr. Advanced Metrics. Rebounds, assists, steals, blocks...career highs. He's third in scoring at 28.9 PPG. Most importantly, OKC owns the league's best record at 30-8. He's too good to not have an MVP, and in his fourth season of NBA super-stardom  KD looks primed to get his first one. Here's the status of his challengers:

     Chris Paul: Best player on the increasingly 'for real' Clippers. He's simply a dynamic leader. However, the depth of Lob City means they don't always need Paul to do this to good teams. 

     LeBron James: Based on raw numbers, he's the biggest threat to Durant. LeBron's credentials make it harder for him to win MVP than anyone else. He carries Miami, but a fourth MVP seems unlikely this season. 

     Carmelo Anthony: Has the highest usage rate of anyone in the NBA. He's come into his leadership role in New York and enjoying his best year as a result. Knicks need to stay in top-two in East for Melo to stay in MVP talk. 

     Kobe Bryant: This year feels like those 05-07 seasons when Kobe produced, but Lakers didn't. He won't win MVP on a hugely underachieving team, but winning a scoring title at 34 would be impressive no matter what. 

And back to Durant

     I talked about him stepping up his game, and he really has. He's scored 40 points in two of his last three games, after doing it only twice in his first 35 games. Obviously it helps that he's a pure shooter who can score over any defender, but the key is getting to the line. Even on nights when Durant is under 50% from the field, he still get his 30 points by shooting 90% from the line. He's unguardable, and when hot, he's the most lethal scorer in the game.  

     The Durant/Russell Westbrook dynamic may rear its head at some point in the playoffs, but for now they're winning and things seem to be going fine. Kevin Martin's success as OKC sixth man has made that role one of the most appealing in the NBA. The Thunder are rolling, consistently putting together long winning streaks. They've only lost four games total in the past six weeks. Which begs the question... 

Are the Thunder favorites?

     Right now, yes, they are. They're definitely not prohibitive favorites because the defending champs are certainly reasonable competition, but OKC is playing like the NBA's best team. The Thunder are playing for the NBA's #1 seed, which will help them mostly in the gauntlet of the Western Conference Playoffs. But remember, they did have homecourt advantage against Miami last year and could never force the series back to OKC.
    The Thunder will likely have two very tough series in the West before a date with LeBron and Co. in the Finals, while Miami will waltz through the East like a Sunday stroll in the park. Who knows if the tougher road will help or hurt the Thunder? This team is ready to win a championship. And Durant looks more than ready to lead them.