The Boston Celtics suffered another tough loss on Monday night, as they fell 98-96 at the hands of the lowly Indiana Pacers. With superstar forward Jaylen Brown out, the C’s couldn’t get enough offense in order to get past a beat-up Pacers team.
Through 36 games this season, Brown has turned himself into a de facto MVP candidate for Boston. Brown is averaging career-highs in points (29.5) and assists (five) per game, while still shooting a very efficient 49.5% from the field.
Brown’s strong play has helped him emerge as one of the frontrunners in the MVP race. According to Celtics legend Paul Pierce, though, another candidate has put his name in the ring: Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards.
“Ant has officially put his name back into the hat of MVP candidates, as you seeing (the Timberwolves) rising in the standings,” Pierce said on “No Fouls Given.” “It matters that this team has been together; it matters that they’ve had a couple of deep playoff runs. They’re gonna be a problem.”
Edwards has managed to take his scoring exploits to another level this season, as he’s averaging a career-high 28.9 points per game while shooting 50% from the field. However, he’s not averaging as many rebounds or assists per game as Brown.
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Right now, it still feels like the MVP race is between Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. If Brown and Edwards keep on leading their teams to wins, though, they could quickly make some serious noise in this discussion, too.
Featured image via Brian Fluharty/Imagn Images
