2011 NBA Playoffs

Commentary

Postseason MVP rankings: No. 1?

Originally Published: May 6, 2011

By David Thorpe | Scouts Inc.

How amazing and deep is the West? A couple of games into Round 2 and Memphis is no longer the best story of the playoffs. Instead, Dallas winning two on the road in Los Angeles -- thanks to great second-half team defense and incredible shot-making by Dirk Nowitzki -- is the talk of May.

But we still have to respect and take into account what Memphis has done over the past three weeks, and especially in the last week -- eliminating the West's No. 1 team in dramatic fashion on Friday night, then flying to OKC and beating the Thunder on Sunday afternoon to steal home-court advantage. In those two dramatic games, one man stood out, and he is now the biggest reason Memphis has a real chance to pull off another major playoff upset. He is also the new leader in our Postseason MVP Rankings:

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