LeBron James falls to 4th in MVP rankings; Carmelo Anthony drops out of Top 10

RANK	PLAYER	RUNDOWN	LAST
1		KEVIN DURANT, F, OKLAHOMA CITY: Dropped 43 on the Mavs last night despite Shawn Marion defending him. Safe to say there is no one who can defend him. OK, maybe LeBron. Maybe. KD has scored at least 25 in 36 consecutive games, the longest streak since Michael Jordan had 40 in 1986-87.	1
2		BLAKE GRIFFIN, F, LA CLIPPERS: Another strong week solidified his hold on the No. 2 spot. Griffin had his 29th consecutive game with at least 20 points Monday vs. the Bucks as Doc’s team reached 50 wins. Since you must be wondering, LBJ’s longest 20-point streak of the season was 10 games, accomplished twice.	2
3		JOAKIM NOAH, C, CHICAGO: What, you were expecting LeBron? No sirree. Bron-Bron has 84 assists in 14 games this month, half of them losses. The big French fella? Howbout 96 in 13 games! And Bulls, unlike Heat, have a winning mark in March. Oh, and they’re third in East now. If Suns miss playoffs, Tom Thibodeau is COY.	5
4		LeBRON JAMES, F, MIAMI: At some point, you have to wonder if something’s legitimately wrong with the Heat. I say “no, there isn’t,” because this is what veteran, confident teams do when trying to three-peat. Trust me, no one in Miami is panicking – least of all LeBron. When the playoffs arrive, these guys – especially this guy – will flip a switch.	3
5		AL JEFFERSON, C, CHARLOTTE: Since we are referencing 20-point streaks, it’s worth pointing out that Big Al had 11 straight earlier this season, and he’s averaging 24.7 points and 10.5 rebounds in March as the ‘Cats have gone 7-6. Need we remind you that 7-6 is a better record than both Indiana and Miami have this month.	4
6		KYLE LOWRY, TORONTO: Isaiah Thomas might disagree, but this guy will be the top free agent point guard this summer. And unlike Thomas, Lowry will be unrestricted. Dude has earned himself a minimum $40 million contract. And if the Raptors keep him and give him a fifth year, we’re talking $60 million territory.	6
7		JAMES HARDEN, G, HOUSTON: Was going to bump him above Lowry, then saw that his scoring is down from 27.9 ppg in February to 26.5 ppg in March. Oh, and then there’s the fact that no one saw coming what we are seeing from the Raptors. They are the Suns of the East – except they know they’re in the playoffs, whereas Phoenix doesn’t.	7
8		STEPHEN CURRY, G, GOLDEN STATE: Has a nice little 20-point streak of his own with five in a row after failing to reach 20 in six straight. His 219 3-pointers lead the NBA, and he hits them at a 41.4 percent clip. Here is a stat you can take to the water cooler and debate its significance: Curry is averaging 26.5 points in losses and 21.8 in wins.	8
9		JOHN WALL, G, WASHINGTON: There’s a case that the guy below Wall deserves this spot, given that Brooklyn has a better record than Washington. But didn’t everyone have Brooklyn winning the Atlantic Division? Nobody had the Wizards doing what they are doing; the most popular preseason prediction for them was Randy Wittman being the first coach fired.	9
10		DERON WILLIAMS, G, BROOKLYN NETS: His March numbers: 16.6 ppg, 5.7 apg (with assist-to-turnover ratio above 3.0) and shooting 40 percent from deep. Mumbers from November: 9.6 ppg, 5.6 apg, 41 percent overall. The uptick in 3-point shooting is most acute, as D-Will shot only 28 percent from the arc in February.	–