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00:00All right. Let's hear from the people about the MVP race in the NBA. Is it done? Is it through?
00:05If you had a vote, who would you cast it for? You do have a vote in the Fayetteville Public Poll.
00:18At SportsGrid on Twitter, who should win the NBA MVP award this season? Shea Gildress Alexander,
00:24Nikola Jokic, or other? If you voted for other, that's fine, but really it is a two-horse race,
00:30and it's really probably not even a two-horse race. Shea Gildress Alexander,
00:35a minus 440 favorite to win the MVP hardware this year, denying Nikola Jokic his fourth
00:41MVP award in the last five years. Pretty hefty favorite number for SGA. Not necessarily that
00:50large of a margin, Donnie, in terms of this Fayetteville Public Poll. Shea Gildress Alexander in front,
00:56but only just a little bit more than 53 percent. Nikola Jokic, more than 40 percent. Are you
01:02surprised to see the public have this tight of a margin? No, because it really should be that close.
01:08Like, it is. Like, we want to give it to SGA just because we like new things here, having a great
01:12season. It's his time. Could have gotten it last year, didn't get it. We'll get it this year. Nikola
01:16Jokic, look at the numbers that he's had on this season. And I know you can't do this, but we'll
01:20just have fun with it. Like, move that back 10 years. This is the greatest season we've ever
01:24seen in the history of professional sports in the NBA. He's the MVP by far. Nikola Jokic averaged a
01:29triple-double the entire season. And it's like, wow. Couldn't fast-forward 10 years. It's like,
01:34he does that every year, though. Like, that's the penalty, Ben. He's so good every single year. It's
01:38like, are we going to give it to this guy again? Like, is he really the best? No, he is the best
01:43player on the planet, but that's not really, really great. We want to give it to a guy having
01:46a fantastic season on a great basketball team. That's something new. And yes, equally deserving
01:52of it. But Nikola Jokic, make no mistake about it, is the best player. Like, if we started,
01:56and I don't know how NBA circles would go, Ben, but it's like, hey, draft your team. Like,
02:00Jokic would always go over SGA. No? Or is that just me? Nikola Jokic is the best basketball
02:06player on planet Earth right now. Is he the greatest to ever do it? Not at this moment.
02:11Is he the greatest right now? Without a doubt, in my estimation. But Donnie's right. It's not
02:16just when you look, who is the best basketball player, or you see a guy averaging a triple
02:21double once again with 29 points per game. Of course, that is the most valuable player to a
02:27team in the NBA, and his team is pretty darn good. Second best mark right now in the Western
02:32Conference. But that has been the story for Nikola Jokic the last half decade in the NBA. Is it fair?
02:39Probably not. Is it the reality? Yeah. And Donnie, it's one of the reasons where on Friday,
02:44Nikola Jokic has the first ever 30-20-20 game, 31 points, 22 dimes, 21 boards in NBA history.
02:52And he tightens the gap, but he doesn't flip to a minus money favorite or even move past
02:57Shea Gilgis-Alexander. It's because he has to make history already on history,
03:03even to tighten the margin, let alone win the actual hardware. Not only is it voter fatigue,
03:10because he has won three NBA MVP awards in the last four years, it's also he has set
03:16an incredibly successful standard for himself that if he is not overwhelmingly surpassing,
03:23not that it lacks luster, it just lacks a little bit of sizzle. And I would just say,
03:28although Nikola Jokic should and could and possibly can win MVP each and every year,
03:35Shea Gilgis-Alexander is more than deserving of the award this year. He is the NBA's leading
03:40scorer. He is averaging 33 points per game. He has seven 50-point games this year. I am pretty
03:46certain that no other individual in the NBA has multiple 50-point games this year, and very few
03:53even have a 50-point performance. He had three consecutive 40-point performances, including in
03:59the victory over the Nuggets on Sunday afternoon. And on top of that, Donnie, valuable, right? Is
04:06Nikola Jokic more valuable because he does everything? Perhaps. SGA does a lot. He is
04:11their point guard. He is still a great facilitator outside of being an electric scorer. He is second
04:16best in the NBA in terms of steals per game as well, maybe slightly overlooked on that side of
04:22the floor. And his Thunder team is on a record pace to be the one seed in the Western Conference
04:30at 53-12. That is also value to be the best player on the best team. To me, it's Shea Gilgis-Alexander.
04:37There is no doubt about it. And it's not just, OK, well, we can't give it to Jokic. SGA is having
04:43an MVP caliber season without a shadow of a doubt. Yeah, yes. And but the crazy part about it's like
04:50if you uphold the seasonal statistics from Nikola Jokic throughout the rest of the games,
04:54which means he's probably getting a triple-double every single game on the way out. Just doing a
04:58little research, 2016-27, that OKC team that had Russell Westbrook, that had all those triple-doubles
05:04and won the MVP. They finished sixth in the conference. Well, it looks like the Nuggets
05:07probably going to finish what? Second overall in the conference here. And it's not going to get
05:11Akim the MVP. We'll see how it is down the stretch. And I assume this is going to tighten up. But
05:16barring a huge drop off for OKC as a team, not just SGA, you could probably pencil him in for
05:2239. It's just crazy to see another player out there that averages way more than a triple-double.
05:28It's like, yeah, better luck next year. What does he have to do next year to win it?
05:33I think then he has Shea Gilgis-Alexander who won it. So it's like a year on,
05:37year off thing for Nikola Jokic. It very well might be. Shea Gilgis-Alexander again,
05:44the minus 440 favorite. More on the early line coming your way up next.
05:48Action around the association on this Tuesday evening. What I am sure is my co-host Donny
05:54Rightside's favorite segment of the day here on this Tuesday on the early line,
05:59the two premier NBA handicappers on this network. Get you ready. Could it be 15,
06:0515, really 15 consecutive wins for the Cleveland Cavaliers? The odds makers certainly expect that
06:11to be the case. 18.5 points spread in favor of the Cavs tonight at home in the land with a total
06:19of 228. Do the odds makers not understand that despite being on the second leg of a back-to-back
06:25with a change of venue, Brooklyn at home last night pulled off the upset against the shorthanded
06:31Lakers without LeBron James maybe riding that momentum. I guess the odds makers do not. So
06:37the question, Donny, not really 15. It should be 15 Cleveland and 18.5 point home favorite.
06:43The question really, how many points does Cleveland win this game by?
06:47Yeah, Cleveland probably should cover the 18.5. Is that a little bit steep? Yes, it is. But also
06:52if you're looking at the Brooklyn Nets on a back-to-back, they're actively not trying to
06:56win basketball games. They shouldn't have won last night. That should became as a shocker because you
07:00see them in the standings now, they're lined up with a couple of teams. I believe I want to say
07:0422 wins, which means you better start losing basketball games to improve those ping-pongs.
07:09And that's going to start tonight. So if you play on a back-to-back, I'm not even sure who shows up
07:13for the Nets. I would look even more towards first half. There might be a chance that Ben,
07:17they are up 20 points at the first half break. And you're saying, all right, well, now they
07:22probably should win by 20, but I don't know how that's going to go in the third and fourth quarter
07:25minus 11 and a half at the fan blue sports book is the first half. I think they might be up 15 plus
07:30at the break and I'll take my chances. Now, granted the calves could be up six at the break
07:34and then still win by 25 points. Yes, but I'm willing to take like you might get one of those
07:3935, 13 first quarters and away you go. Yeah, it might be a good look. DRS, as you said,
07:4611 and a half points is that first half number Cleveland, by the way, on this current 14 game
07:51wins streak has been booked as a double-digit favorite in half of those games, seven times
07:56laying at least 10 points, three and four against the spread. But if you look at the first half and
08:02a triumph quickly for the Cavaliers, maybe against the tired legs of the Nets could be a way to go
08:08just to Donnie's point about Brooklyn. They are four and a half games behind Chicago for an Eastern
08:13Conference play in tournament spot. Probably not flirting with that with only about 18 games
08:19remaining here in the regular season, 22 and 42, same record as the Sixers, same amount of wins,
08:26although one more loss for the Toronto Raptors. You're trying to stack up as many ping-pong balls
08:31to be in the lottery. The Nets did win outright as a six-point home dog again against the Lakers
08:38last night. The Bulls pulled off an upset victory over the Indiana Pacers yesterday,
08:43Indiana back at home hosting Milwaukee. The Bucks a two-point road favorite in Indianapolis,
08:49233 and a half is that total. Playoff positioning key here once again. Currently the Milwaukee Bucks
08:57in the four spot, 36 and 27. Indiana a full game behind as the five seed in the Eastern Conference,
09:0535 and 28. A playoff preview where home floor advantage could be a toss-up down the stretch.
09:12Yeah, it always feels like to me when I take a look at the Milwaukee Bucks, I'm a sucker for them.
09:16I'm like, hey, look at that. Giannis Anthony Kupo, Dame Lillard going to play in this basketball game
09:20and the line was three and a half at the opening number. Now it's down to two on the live number
09:23at FanDuel. Let me jump in. I'm probably going to do that again tonight, but two teams that are
09:28equal on equal footing, as I should say. Total by the way, 231 and a half, now sitting at 233 and a
09:33half and other outlets showing 234 and a half. So that's on the rise. That might be the better way
09:38to play this game, but once again, I always fall into that Bucks trap. I'll take them again, minus
09:42two on the road to pick up the victory over the Pacers. The Bucks have dropped two in a row. They
09:47had won four of, or excuse me, eight of their last nine prior to that, covering in seven of those
09:54eight victories. The Pacers have dropped three in a row. A Pacers team known for its tempo under
10:01in six of their last eight, but Indiana has been a really good underdog team this year in large
10:08part. Again, three consecutive losses for Indiana, two straight L's for Milwaukee. This would be
10:14the opening round playoff matchup, the 4-5 split in the Eastern Conference, if the season has a
10:21word to come to an end today. Now, as we go, just a four-game slate in the NBA on this Tuesday night,
10:28we head to the Big Easy up next. The Pelicans at home, hosting the Los Angeles Clippers,
10:33seven and a half points spread in favor of the Clips on the road, totaled down by a few points
10:37from that number, currently live at 222. And, Hulk, can the Pels keep this game competitive at
10:44home tonight in NOLA? I don't think so. I like the way the Clippers have started playing, bouncing
10:48back at this point now. And understand this, this line opened up at seven and a half early this
10:51morning at the FanBlue Sportsbook. This was down to six and has now ballooned up a point and a half
10:55while we've been on the show. Some sevens are still out there in the marketplace and a 222 over.
11:00Sometimes there comes a point where the Clippers are trying to angle for the playoffs and seeding
11:04here. The Pelicans don't want to win basketball games. So, outside of Zion Williamson starting
11:08tonight and going for, let's just say, 30, you know, 16 and 6, I don't think they're going to
11:14be able to be all that competitive, which means I'm expecting a double-digit victory for the
11:18Clippers tonight. Sooner than later, bad basketball teams understand the goal isn't to win anymore.
11:22And if the goal isn't to win, you got to fade them. In New Orleans is a bad basketball team,
11:28despite some better play right around the all-star break. They had won five of their last
11:32seven. Now they have dropped four in a row, only one cover in that span, their most recent game
11:38as a double-digit dog. The Clippers got off to a porous start. Out of the all-star break,
11:43they had dropped six of seven. They did not cover in any of those seven games. They've won three in
11:48a row. They have covered in two of the three. They did beat Sacramento on Sunday on a last-second
11:54buzzer beater from Kawhi Leonard in OT. The Clippers still a really good favorite this year.
12:01Donnie, when you look at New Orleans, second-worst record in the Western Conference at 17-48. Only
12:07one team has been eliminated from playoff contention so far in all of the NBA. That's in
12:14the Western Conference, the Utah Jazz, 15-50. The worst record, the Washington Wizards, 13-50. They're
12:22the other game tonight at home. They're on the road, taking on the Pistons, Detroit, 15-point
12:28favorite. That's about all I can say about this game. You want to lay 15 points with the Pistons
12:34at home at this point. Should they beat the Wizards? Yes. Are the Wizards tanking? Absolutely.
12:38But I do agree with that line movement, 232 to 235. When you typically get bad basketball teams,
12:43guys are not looking to play much defense, just trying to get their points up, if that makes sense.
12:47That's probably the way I'd go, but come on now. 15 points, Brett. Stop it. Stop it, Detroit.
12:52The Wizards have been an underdog in 52 of 53 games this year. 27-33-2 against the spread. Not
13:01awful, but hey, hopefully Cooper Flagg heads to D.C. More on the early lineup next.