NBA MVP Watch 2018-19: 5 Best performers from 17th October

The first round of NBA games from the season is almost over, with only 4 teams yet to play a game within the first 2 days. LeBron James and the Lakers start their season with a tough one at the Moda Center against the Trail Blazers, but we saw enough on Day 2 of NBA action to find some performances worth mentioning here.

It is important to note that this MVP watch is an extremely short-sighted one, with rankings changing at the turn of every week. For context, Kyrie Irving may yet bounce back as a fringe MVP candidate, but he did his rankings no favours with a 2-of-14 shooting night against the Sixers even though the Cs won the game handily.

Without further ado, let's take a look at the 5 best performers yesterday:

#1 Anthony Davis

Stats: 32 points, 16 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks in 39 minutes of game time;

13-of-21 shooting from the field, 6-of-7 from the free throw line, +/- of +23

The Unibrow laid down the gauntlet for the crown of the world's best basketball player in a recent interview on ESPN show The Jump. He is one of the betting favourites to win the Kia 2018-19 NBA MVP, and he's started the season off in about as great a fashion as he could have.

Playing 39 minutes in total, Davis was unstoppable as a rim-runner, using his length and strength to great effect against Clint Capela. So bad was the fallout of the Davis-Capela matchup, in fact, that Davis grabbed 2 steals early on in the game on passes intended for the Swissman, while restricting him to only 4 made field goals on 9 attempts.

The Pelicans blowing the Rockets out at the Toyota Center was about as good a result as AD's MVP pitch could have gotten as a start.

#2 Giannis Antetokounmpo

Stats: 25 points, 18 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 block in 34 minutes of game time;

9-of-21 shooting from the field, 7-of-12 from the free throw line, game-high +/- of +11

The Greek Freak is Zach Lowe's pick to win the 2018-19 MVP award, and the Alphabet certainly started the season off in good enough form to warrant the selection. The Bucks were stretched to the limit by Kemba Walker's Hornets - a phrase that you should take literally on a day the UConn 8th year veteran poured in 41 points on 29 shots while making 7 3-pointers and was a missed shot away from winning the game.

Giannis himself was impressive in an understated alpha role - he led the team in shots taken at 21 while the rest of the Bucks' perimeter players chipped in with sizeable contributions of their own.

At the end of the day, Giannis found himself a fresh poster to mark the start of the season, dunking all over Michael Kidd-Gilchrist as the Hornets ran a super-small lineup in order to bring the game back to a close juncture.

#3 Kawhi Leonard

Stats: 24 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists in 37 minutes of game time

9-of-22 shooting from the field, 5-of-6 shooting from the free throw line, +/- of +13

By the looks of it, Kawhi may or may not be 100% physically fit, but he's mentally right there in the zone to make a run for MVP honours. His defense was still catching up to the NBA rhythm, even though the Cavs made it a point to not run their offense through their swingmen when Leonard was on the floor - indications that he's still the league's biggest offense deterrent just by virtue of being on the floor.

His approach to the Raps' offense was about as good as one could have hoped. Having taken a number of feel-out shots from around the key at the start of the game, Kawhi's shot finally started falling at the end of the 2nd quarter. A big put-back dunk off a missed 3 from Valanciunas got him going, and he stopped forcing the issue.

Things are looking good for the Raps and the Klaw at the moment.

#4 DeMar DeRozan

Minnesota Timberwolves v San Antonio Spurs

Stats: 28 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists in 38 minutes of game time;

10-of-21 from the field, 7-of-11 from the free throw line, game-high +/- of +7

The Kawhi-DeRozan trade has worked out pretty well for both parties, based on what we saw from the Spurs in a game that they were made to sweat for the W. DeMar was asked to take on the primary ballhandler's role for a team that has 3 of its guards down with extended injury absences, and he handled the heat pretty well while being guarded by wantaway Timberwolves All-Star Jimmy Butler for big stretches of the game.

The stats from the game don't scream out MVP given that this was a pretty average DeRozan game on the offensive end of things, but what stood out was the way DeRozan went at Butler in an enticing one-on-one battle taking place on both ends of the floor. The Compton native succeeded in limiting Butler from the perimeter (9-of-23), and already fits well into the Spurs' defensive schemes.

It remains to be seen how the rest of the season goes, but the Spurs have gotten off to a typically assured to the year.

#5 Devin Booker

Stats: 35 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists in 33 minutes of game time;

12-of-19 from the field, 6-of-10 on 3-pointers, 5-of-6 on free throws, +/- of +22

Reports of Devin Booker's failing health were greatly exaggerated, to quote Mark Twain in a manner befitting the occasion. The 21-year-old had a wrist injury last month and saw no minutes in preseason action, leading people to believe that he might be out for a while.

Indeed, I myself was surprised to see Booker start the game, and his inclination to give high fives with his uninjured hand only drives the notion home.

Enough with the injury troubles, however. The Mavs kept the game close up until the youngest player to score 70 points in an NBA game decided it was time to turn it up a notch. At one point, Booker had scored 14 straight points for the Suns, and it led to the bloated scoreline which might make one believe it was a blowout from the start - which it wasn't.

It might be way too early to lump Booker into NBA MVP conversation given his defensive lapses, but the young'un has already shown enough potential to be a contender in the scoring title sweepstakes.