After Bucks Best Lakers, Antetokounmpo MVP Odds Now At -125

In some sports like the NFL, it’s tough for a player to win the MVP award in back-to-back seasons. In the NBA, it’s quite common place. Although we’re very early in the season, the oddsmakers are expecting a repeat champion as Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is a sizable favorite to win it. Is there value with anyone else on the board?

ANTETOKOUNMPO ON THE RISE AFTER BUCKS BEAT LOS ANGELES LAKERS

We had a possible early NBA Finals preview on Thursday when the Milwaukee Bucks hosted the Los Angeles Lakers on national television. These two teams are atop the standings in each respective conference.

The Bucks turned aside the Lakers 111-104 but what really stood out in the important showdown was the play of The Greek Freak. He finished the game with 34 points with 11 rebounds, seven assists, a steal, a block and an impressive five three-pointers. If he’s going to shoot like that, the Bucks are going to be nearly impossible to stop.

Giannis outshining LeBron James and Anthony Davis – two players who are at +900 for the NBA MVP odds – also gave his MVP campaign a big boost. The numbers are hard to argue with as he’s averaging 31.8 points per game (second in the NBA) with 12.8 rebounds (seventh) and 5.4 assists (25^th). His 34.79 PER leads the league. His NBA MVP odds have shot up to -125.

ANKLE SPRAIN DROPS DONCIC’S ODDS

One of the surprising early favorites to win the MVP award was Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks. At the time of injury, the Mavs were 17-7 and were in third place in the Western Conference. Doncic has been a huge reason why they’ve performed so well as he’s scoring 29.3 points per game and nearly averaging a triple-double. His 32.01 PER is the second-best mark in the NBA, trailing only Antetokounmpo.

Doncic suffered a sprained ankle and is only expected to miss a couple of weeks. However, these types of injuries can linger and who knows how he’ll be once he returns. He’s finally off crutches and will be back soon, so he’s not out of the race, but he was previously neck-in-neck with Antetokounmpo. Now Doncic has dropped to +400.

HARDEN LEADS LEAGUE IN SCORING, AT +500 FOR MVP

It feels like James Harden is trailing for the MVP award after “cooling off” in the month of December. For starters, the Rockets are just 8-6 in their last 14 games; they were 11-3 before that. Also, Harden averaged a whopping 39.5 points per game in the month of November but has tapered off to 37.6 in December.

The numbers are still gawdy across the board. If the season ended today, Harden’s 38.5 points per game would be the most points averaged in a season since 1963. He’s also averaging 7.5 assists per game, which is seventh in the NBA.

His odds to win the MVP award are at +500 but he’s definitely not far off the pace set by Giannis and Doncic.

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