So it looks like control of the Pacific Division will indeed be at stake Wednesday night when the Lakers and Clippers meet at the Staples Center for the fourth and final time this season.
The primary reason why is the Clippers’ six-game winning streak that has moved them within a game of the Lakers entering Tuesday night’s games (which include the Lakers playing the Jersey Juggernauts).
And the primary singular reason for the Clips’ surge is none other than Chris Paul, who has fined-tuned his game to such a degree over the past couple weeks that he deserves to enter the MVP debate (it is a wide-open race, as I discuss in the above video with CineSport’s Tara Petrolino).
Paul has had double-figure assists in five of the past six games, he has had fewer than three turnovers in 12 of the past 13 games (the lone exception was a 3-turnover game), he’s scored 20 or more points in three of the past five games, and his 2.4 steals per game have led to many of the transition opportunities that allow the Clippers to show the best side of their Lob City personality.
Early in the season (remember Kobe’s stretch of 40-point games?) it looked like the award was Bryant’s to lose, then LeBron James had a month in which he clearly became the clubhouse leader, but then came a dropoff from James and his teammates that has opened the race back up. Kevin Durant is in the conversation, Kevin Love has been in and out of it, Dwight Howard has to be in it, and Paul is the freshest face in the pack.
It’s going to be a close MVP vote — that’s about the most definitive thing you can say about the race at this point.
Also in the above chat we discuss the Eastern Conference race between the Milwaukee Bucks and the ailing New York Knicks (Baron Davis is only 32 even though he looks 42), and Scott Skiles’ team is opening a critical five-game homestand that will make or break their playoff chances.
Also, do you know which teams are going to be rooting extra hard for the ping-pong balls to line up in their favor?
The Nets and the Warriors, that’s who. If New Jersey’s pick is not top three, it goes to Portland. And if Golden State’s is not top seven, it goes to Utah.
And whoever lands at No. 1 is going to take Anthony Davis, eh? The kid looked outstanding in Kentucky’s NCAA national championship victory Monday night.