NBA betting awards update: Does Giannis Antetokounmpo still have a shot at MVP? - ESPN

Can Giannis Antetokounmpo win his third MVP award this season? According to ESPN BET, he has the fourth-shortest odds in the NBA at +1400, behind Nikola Jokic (-155), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+230) and Luka Doncic (+750), and just ahead of Jayson Tatum (+2200).

Here's why he can: Giannis is quietly putting together the best offensive season of his career. He is a decimal point away from his highest scoring average at 30.8 PPG while dishing a career-high 6.3 APG and shooting a way-career best 61.9% from the floor.

In fact, Giannis is on pace to become the first player in NBA history to average at least 30 PPG on 60 FG% for an entire season. Not even the most dominant interior scorers in NBA history… not Shaq, not Kareem, not even Wilt… have ever been able to score at such high volume and high efficiency at the same time.

Up until recently, the reason why Giannis couldn't win the MVP was that, for all his offensive brilliance, the Bucks' struggles on defense and therefore in the win-loss column would have been enough to keep him out of it.

But, have you happened to notice what's going on in Milwaukee since the All-Star break?

The Bucks have won six straight games. But it's not that they are winning that's the story… it's how they are winning.

The Bucks are playing good, old fashioned, lights-out defense!

They have held their six opponents since the break to an average of only 98.7 PPG. Giannis missed their last game, but in the last four he played none of the four opponents cracked 100 points. In today's NBA, that is unheard of.

The Timberwolves have the stingiest defense in the NBA, allowing opponents to score 106.5 PPG on average. No other team is allowing fewer than the Cavaliers' 109.4 PPG. The Bucks still have 20