Where Celtics’ Malcolm Brogdon Stands In Sixth Man Of The Year Race
A Knicks guard remains the favorite
Malcolm Brogdon has been one of the most reliable players on the Celtics this season, and his play off the bench might earn his some hardware.
The 30-year-old's consistency was on full display Thursday night in Boston's win over the Toronto Raptors He scored a game-high 29 points on 10-for-19 shooting in a matchup that Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum sat out due to injury.
The performance made his case for Sixth Man of the Year for seventh-year guard, but oddsmakers at FanDuel Sportsbooks have an opposing view.
New York Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley is the favorite to win the award at -310. Brogdon is behind him with +230 odds.
There are two games left in the regular season, as of Thursday, so there's still time to finalize a case.
Quickley has played more games than Brogdon at this point in the season -- 79 compared to 67. The pair's stats nearly are identical, but the Celtics guard does have the efficiency edge over the Knicks guard.
Brogdon is averaging 44% from the 3-point line on 4.4 attempts per game. Quickley is averaging 36.7% from behind the arc on 5.5 attempts per game. Brogdon also is an 87% free-throw shooter on 2.7 attempts per game compared to Quickley's 81% on 3.0 attempts per game.
It's a tight race for voters. The Celtics are locked into a No. 2 seed and have fallen off in the second half of the season from their dominant first half. The Knicks have outperformed expectations and are locked into the No. 5 seed with a first-round matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers on the horizon.
Brogdon was among the preseason favorites to win the award, and Quickley's emergence came at the midpoint of the season. Again, it's a toss up, but it appears the latter is in line to win the award, according to oddsmakers.
