MVP watch

His Airness

Kevin Durant: 31 points, 7.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists. You could say that Durant has slowed down over his past five games, however, in his past five games he still averages 28 points, which is by the way still more than any other player in the NBA. Durant continues to improve his overall game increasing his rebound and assist numbers.

LeBron James: 26.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.6 assists. LeBron has stepped it up over the last week trying to pull his team out of the slump they faced in January. This has seemed to work as Heat look back on track to contend for a three-peat.

LaMarcus Aldridge: 24.1 points, 11.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists. The third spot in the race is tough, Blake Griffin is a strong challenger of this spot but I still believe this spot belongs to Aldridge. Averaging 24 points with 11 rebounds is very impressive and despite having some bad games over the last week Aldridge is the main reason why his team have a 35-14 record.

Nighthawk

Kevin Durant (OKC) - 31.0pts , 5.3ast , 7.7reb

Durant has continued his dominance through the past month and although his scoring string of 12 straight games of 30 plus points was snapped when he got26 points against the Brooklyn Nets where he sat out the entire 4th quarter, Durant has not slowed down since then. His Thunder are atop of the strong West and don’t look like slowing down with just 2 loses in their past 15 games. Kevin Durant has certainly separated himself from the rest of the NBA and is the clear favourite to win MVP at this point.

Lebron James (MIA) - 26.3pts , 6.6ast , 6.9reb

Although Durant has been the most dominant player in the NBA as of late, Lebron has quietly been playing quite well himself. Over the past 10 games Lebron is averaging 27.8pts 7.1ast and 7.5reb all above his season averages and his Heat are 8-2 in those games with one of those coming from the hot Thunder. Although Durant has separated himself in the MVP race, Lebron isn't sitting to far behind as he tries to get his 3 consecutive MVP and 5th overall.

LeMarcus Aldridge 24.1pts , 11.6reb , 2.9ast

LeMarcus Aldridge has been playing great over the past few games even though his Blazers haven't been racking up as many wins as they would want. The Trail Blazers have gone 5-5 over their past 10 games however and over those games Aldridge has been averaging 25.0pts , 13.1reb and 2.8ast. You could say their recent losses weren't because he wasn't performing, those losses were against quality opponents including the Thunder , Rockets and a Wizards team who have been performing well as of late. Aldridge is third in the MVP at the moment in which seems to be a race of two, considering Durant and Lebron seem worlds ahead as we approach the All Star weekend.

Fresh Prince

Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder31.0ppg, 7.7rpg, 5.3apg)

LeBron James (Miami Heat, 26.3ppg, 6.9rpg, 6.6apg)

LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trailblazers, 24.1ppg, 11.6rpg)

Paul George (Indiana Pacers, 22.7ppg, 6.4rpg)

-Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs 18.1ppg, 6.3apg)

-Chris Paul (LA Clippers, 19.6ppg, 11.2apg)

-Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors, 24.3ppg, 9.1apg, 4.4rpg)

-Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves, 25.6ppg, 13.2rpg, 4.0apg)

Standout

FP - Kevin Love

K-Love has been playing lights out for the Minnesota Timberwolves and has been pivotal to the team’s success. Unfortunately for him he has to play at this level to keep the Timberwolves afloat. Over his last 10 games he is averaging an impressive 32.6 points per game and 14.8 rebounds per game. This may be one of the more disappointing teams this season but Kevin Love has played at an all star level and doing everything he can to keep the Timberwolves in playoff contention.

Performance of the week

FP

LeBron James – 31 points, 12 assists, 8 rebounds, 11-20 FG, 3-7 3PT versus

Blake Griffin – 43 points, 16 rebounds, 16-34 FG, 10-17 FT

This week was a little more difficult to pick a performance of the week, partly due to the fact nothing lives up to Carmelo’s performance last week. This week the performance of the week is shared between LeBron James and Blake Griffin as they battled it out at Staples center. Unfortunately for LeBron, we’re so accustomed to see him putting up impressive numbers we take it for granted. On the other end of the court Blake Griffin did everything he could to get the W without Chris Paul and was outstanding for the LA Clippers.

Plays of the week

FP - In light of the performance of the week this game featured many contenders for plays of the week. In total featuring 18 dunks, LeBron and Blake Griffin put on a show and this highlights package shows two of the most explosive athletes in the NBA in full flight. My favourite was the half court alley-oop from Wade to LeBron !

Team on the rise

HA - Sacramento Kings. Losing their best player for the past 6 games has hurt the Kings but with DeMarcus Cousins back and healthy look for the Kings to put in some solid performances. Cousins, who averages 22 points and 11 rebounds was unlucky not to make the All stars team.

NH - Houston Rockets. The Rockets have quietly been impressing approaching the All Star weekend. Many may have thought that they were under achieving following the addition of Dwight Howard, however as of late the Rockets have gone 7-3 over their past 10 and are currently on a 4 game winning streak. It hasn't necessarily been the players you would think who would be performing over such a stretch, Dwight and James Harden have both been playing well but not as well as you come to think both averaging respectable numbers over the 10 games but nothing amazing. Over this stretch it has been a little known player Terrance Jones who has been performing rather well, he's averaging 17.8pts and 7.9reb over this stretch and has been very impressive. He looks like a key player if the Rockets want to make a strong push in this year's playoffs.

FP

Oklahoma City Thunder

Miami Heat

Indiana Pacers

Houston Rockets

Memphis Grizzlies

Teams on the slide

HA - Cleveland Cavaliers. I thought this would be the year the Cavs got back to the playoffs, but that is looking very unlikely with their performance thus far. The Cavs have not lived up to their roster strength and with their star Kyrie Irving struggling, they may not be able to bring it back. However, they are looking to make changes, today firing their GM in what could be a move to try bring some more players in before the trade deadline.

NH - Golden State Warriors

The Warriors better start being careful as they have been starting to slip down the Western Conference. They currently sit in 6th place but they are on as many wins as the Suns and Mavs who are currently 7th and 8th in the West. They also have to keep in mind that the Grizzles who are in 9th place are starting to gain some momentum and could close in on that last playoff position. The Warriors have to pick up their game, they’re arguably the team that most rely on one player - Steph Curry who seems to have to be amazing for the Warriors to win. The Warriors need to perform well especially their bench players as they have the worst bench scoring in the league and will not be able to climb up in the West let alone hold on to a playoff spot if they don't pick up their game.

FP 

Detroit Pistons

Golden State Warriors

Portland Trailblazers

LA Lakers

Undercover Brother

HA - Andre Drummond – averaging 12.9 points and 12.8 rebounds this season, Drummond has shown real promise for the Pistons and look for this to continue. He has already had a 20 point 20 rebound game and at the age of 20 he looks to be one of the future big men of the league.

FP - Gordon Dragic is large part of the surprise package this year, the Phoenix Suns. Dragic was named the Western Conference player of the week averaging 26.8 points per game and 6.0 assists per game, while leading the suns to a 7-3 record over their past 10 games. Dragic is in his second stint with Phoenix has been a standout for the Suns and is doing a great job for the 29-20 team who currently sit 7th in the western conference.

Storylines/Random Thoughts

Whatever happens with Pau Gasol and the Lakers will have a big impact on the future of the Lakers. Both parties appear to be comfortable with the idea of a trade, but it seems they just can’t figure out the perfect trade. Gasol’s departure will make sure that the Lakers can bring in some pieces with potential and allow for a rebuild around Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash. The Phoenix Suns looked a likely contender for Gasol but his injury troubles ensure that teams approach him with caution. Stay tuned

The NBA slam dunk contest has been insignificant for the best part of the 2000s but 2014 could be a year which turns it around. Sure it’s missing the NBA’s top two players but for the first time in a while it features some true NBA stars as well as some future NBA stars. All stars Paul George, John Wall and Damian Lillard are joined by 21 year old Harrison Barnes and 20 year old Ben McLemore who both easily have the potential to become future all stars. The final name on the list is defending champion Terrence Ross. All of these players are significant players for their respective teams and I hope this leads to the resurrection of the dunk contest. The only improvement I would make is eliminate fan voting and get some former NBA dunk contest greats to be judges and the dunk contest will be on the way back to becoming significant in the NBA.

Games to watch (All NZT)

Blazers @ Pacers on Saturday (ESPN)

Raptors @ Clippers on Saturday

Thunder @ Blazers on Wednesday

Hawks @ Bulls on Wednesday

Heat @ Warriors on Thursday

Wizards @ Rockets on Thursday