The first ever NBA in-season tournament has come to an end. The Grand Finals took place in Las Vegas, where the LA Lakers won the premiere title in the City of Angels. The MVP title went to the eternal LeBron James. In other league action, the favourites grind on, while Luka Doncic’s club Dallas keeps in touch.

The first quarter of the NBA regular season is over

Lakers to the premiere title

With this year’s biggest innovation, the in-season tournament, many thought that a tournament in the middle of the regular season wouldn’t really catch on. They were wrong. Now we can say that it was a real small success, and the numbers are the most telling: the Grand Finals between Indiana and the LA Lakers was watched by just over 4.8 million viewers in America alone, one of the highest ever, even higher than last year’s Christmas Day games.

Many were also surprised to see that Indiana made it to the final alongside the expected Lakes. With Haliburton leading the team, as befits a game organiser, they had a great parry in the final, but it wasn’t enough for Anthony Davis and MVP LeBron James. Davis in particular had a great game, adding 20 rebounds to his 40 points. The final score 123:109.

Lebron wins MVP award

The famous LeBron James is reaping success after success, playing like a young man despite his young age of 38 and keeping up with those half his age. What’s more. He has been selected as the Most Valuable Player of the newly created tournament, adding a new prize to his rich reputation. Although he was not his team’s best individual in the final, he proved his strength throughout the tournament. Of course, his teammate Davis would also deserve the title, but we believe that there will be room for more laurels later in the season, even within the Lakes team.

Dallas continues to follow the best

The NBA regular season is already a quarter of the way through and the first voting for the famous ALL STAR game is about to begin.

The favourites remain in their positions. In the East, the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks are still in first place. Not much has changed in the West either. Minnesota leads the way, followed by Oklahoma City, and right behind them are the reigning champions from Denver, followed by our own Luke Dončić‘s Dallas, which is going through a major injury crisis at the moment, with three or even four members of the standard line-up regularly missing games. Luckily, Luka may even be playing the best basketball of his life. He is putting up impressive numbers, averaging just over 32 points per game, and adding 8 rebounds and 9 assists. Nobody in the league is achieving similar numbers. At the same time, he is second overall in the scorers’ list and sixth in the assists’ list. At the same time, the question arises as to how it is possible that, with such a role in the team, he is only fifth on the MVP list.

Embiid remains at the top of the MVP rankings

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander iz Oklahome se je zavihtel na četrto mesto, medtem ko na petem najdemo slovenskega asa Luko Dončića.

The individual MVP race is always interesting, with last year’s winner from Philadelphia, Joel Embiid, leading the way. The Cameroonian is also currently the league’s top scorer. He scores 34 points per game and adds more than 10 rebounds. His team is making great use of this kind of capital under the basket, as they are near the top of the Eastern Conference. Nikola Jokić is in second place. The Serbian is excelling in Denver and is making adjustments both on offense and defense. His team is not at the top of the standings, but there is still a long way to go before the end of the season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is in third place. This was mainly due to one of his last performances, in which he scored a career-high 62 points.
Oklahoma’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is fourth, while Slovenian ace Luka Dončić is fifth.

No Americans in top positions

You could say a complete domination by non-Americans. The top five positions on the MVP list are occupied by a Cameroonian, a Serbian, a Greek, a Canadian and a Slovenian. But let’s see who could still match the top five. Jayson Tatum is playing great for Boston, but his team is full of exceptional individuals who have a great balance of roles on the field. The LA Clippers have been on the rise lately with Kawhi Leonard leading the way, but they are also a wide-ranging team. Then there’s Tyrese Haliburton – Indiana’s game organiser, who has literally exploded this season and leads the league in assists. At the same time, we have to mention the young Anthony Edwards from Minnesota, who is at the top of the West, but has tremendous help in the three big men on the team – Gobert, Towns and Reid.
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