The Oklahoma City Thunder sit at 51-11, 10.5 games up on the No. 2 seeded Los Angeles Lakers. This is in large part due to the dazzling play of superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The three-time All-Star has averaged a league-best 32.8 8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.0 blocks per game on 52/37/89 shooting splits.

While the race for the top seed in the West is not competitive, the MVP race is. Denver Nuggets’ superstar Nikola Jokic is doing historic things for the 40-22 Nuggets while averaging 28.8 points, 12.8 rebounds, 10.4 assists, 1.8 steals and 0.6 blocks per game on 57/44/81 shooting splits.

Jokic is hoping to capture his fourth MVP award while Gilgeous-Alexander is still on the hunt for his first. While Vegas thinks the race is over, putting the Thunder guard at -700 to win the award according to FanDuel, some media members – even voters – view it as a tighter race.

The NBA released its weekly NBA MVP Ladder update which tracks who they view as in the lead for the honor and Gilgeous-Alexander staked his claim to the top spot yet again, after being behind Jokic in last week’s edition.

These two foes will face off on Sunday and Monday inside the Paycom Center with the front end of this rare back-to-back taking place on ABC with a tip-off time of 12 PM CT. This will be another landmark in the race and a chance to put the debate to bed for Gilgeous-Alexander.

While Jokic is a worthy competitor in the chase for the hardwood, a fourth MVP for the big man would completely alter NBA history.

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