Isaiah Thomas finishes 5th in MVP and MIP voting


The first ever NBA Awards show made its debut last night, with the end-of-season awards handed out to their respective winners. The concept is a new format, designed to gather more interest in the league’s prizes, with Russell Westbrook taking home the main prize of regular season MVP. Westbrook smashed the record books this year with his 42 triple-doubles, and also averaged 31.6 points, 10.6 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game enroute to his historic year.

There was some love shown to the Boston Celtics though, as Isaiah Thomas finished fifth in voting for the esteemed award, per Boston.com. Thomas had a great year, helping lead his team to the Eastern Conference Finals where they eventually succumbed to the much stronger Cleveland Cavaliers. The 28-year-old had a statline of 28.9 points and 5.9 assists per game while holding an impressive 46.3 field goal percentage.




Thomas may have lost out to Westbrook, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James, but his place in the top five of voting shouldn’t be ignored. He scored 81 points, which was someway off LeBron at 333 points, but finishing above the likes of Steph Curry and Kevin Durant is a feat in itself. The 28-year-old has come on leaps and bounds since becoming a Celtic, and with his contract up next summer, being able to point to last year’s success can only help him in those negotiations.

To top off the night, Thomas also finished fifth in the Most Improved Player voting, which was awarded to Milwaukee Bucks’ young star Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Bucks also play home to the new Rookie of the Year Malcolm Brogdon. Golden State’s Draymond Green took home the Defensive Player of the Year, Houston’s Eric Gordon and Mike D’Antoini won Sixth Man of the Year and Coach of the Year respectively.

Overall, it was a good night for Thomas, who saw his season's efforts appreciated, and though it was cut short with a hip injury, the point guard must be raring to go for the next season after last night's plaudits.

Credit to AP for the photo
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