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Kevin Durant has Joel Embiid as the frontrunner to win the MVP race. Durant announced his pick after the Brooklyn Nets came away with a 128-123 win at Barclays center to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers. Durant mentioned a few more names as contenders for the MVP title, but ultimately went with the Philadelphia 76ers center as his choice for the honor.
Durant told the media when asked about his candidates for the MVP race:
"If I had to take a guess, I would go between Joel Embiid, DeMar DeRozan, Ja Morant - those are my top 3. I would probably go Joel. Could throw [Nikola] Jokic in there but I'd go Joel. There's so many great players playing at a high level. Like I said the other day, the league is in a great place."
Kevin Durant, who is currently averaging 29.4 ppg, 7.2 rpg and 6.0 apg with the Brooklyn Nets this season, may have been among the MVP candidates himself had injuries not played a part in keeping him out of the Nets' lineup for 27 games. The Nets are 29-15 with Durant in their lineup and 8-19 without the 12-time All-Star. When asked if he felt frustrated by missing out on a chance to win MVP this season, Durant replied in the negative. He said:
"Naah, it's not frustrating. I have experienced what it is to win MVP. It doesn't validate me as a player. I know what I can do. It's always great to get some hometown love, for fans to recognize you as one of the best players in the league, but I wouldn't say I'm pissed off or that I'm mad. It's just part of the game."
Kevin Durant scores 38 points on 73% shooting to give Brooklyn Nets win over Portland Trail Blazers
The Brooklyn Nets secured another important victory on Friday as Kevin Durant dropped 38 points on 11-of-15 shooting (73.3%) from the field versus the Portland Trail Blazers. Durant also had six rebounds and six assists in the contest as he made 14 of 15 free throws to help the Nets overcome an 18-point deficit (64-82) to earn a five-point victory for the franchise at the Barclays Center. This was Durant's eighth 35-point game of the season.
With Durant leading from the front, the Brooklyn Nets are retaining their hold over the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. They are currently 2.5 games behind the seventh-placed Toronto Raptors and 1.5 games ahead of the ninth-placed Atlanta Hawks.
