Casey Holdahl

No one who saw Stephen Curry score an NBA-record 17 points overtime of Golden State's 132-125 victory over the Trail Blazers in Game Four of the Western Conference semifinals Monday night would be surprised to here he was announced as the NBA's Most Valuable Player for the second-consecutive season Tuesday morning. What's more, Curry garnered all 131 first-place votes, making him the first unanimous MVP in the history of the award. There's a strong case to be made that the series between the Warriors, a team that set the NBA record for wins in a season this year with 73, and Trail Blazers would be tied at 2-2 were it not for Curry's return from an right MCL sprain, which is just another small piece of evidence as to Curry's status as truly the league's most valuable player.

While Curry had MVP locked up well before the All-Star break, the rest of the ballot was far more unpredictable, with San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard edging out Cleveland's LeBron James for second. The Oklahoma City duo of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant finished fourth and fifth, respectively, with Clippers point guard Chris Paul coming in sixth and Curry's teammate Draymond Green taking seventh.

Then there's Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard, who received one third-place vote, four fourth-place votes and nine fifth-place votes to finish eighth in the final MVP tally. What's perhaps most impressive about Lillard's eighth-place finish is that he did so despite only getting two fifth-place votes from the Portland media. Lillard, the lone returning starter from the 2014-15 team, averaged 25.1 points, 6.8 assists and 4.7 rebounds in 35.7 minutes per game this season while leading the Trail Blazers to their third-consecutive postseason appearance and just their second playoff series victory in the last 16 years.

Lillard finished ahead of Houston's James Harden and Toronto's Kyle Lowry to round out the top 10 vote-getters. Coincidentally enough, Lillard is the only player to finish in the top 10 in MVP voting who did not make the 2016 All-Star Game. Try to get that right next time, eh fans and NBA head coaches?

While Lillard fell well short of winning MVP, he still has a strong chance of being named to one of the three All-NBA teams, which are typically announced in late-May.

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Lillard Finishes 8th In MVP Voting

Last week, Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard jumped into the NBA's weekly "Race to the MVP" rankings for the first time during the 2015-16 season by virtue of leading the Trail Blazers to win in 11 of their past 13 games while scoring at least 30 points in five straight games. The 6-3 guard debuted at No. 6 in the rankings, which also happened to be Portland's place in the Western Conference standings with just over a month of games left to be played in the regular season.

This week, Lillard once again finds himself at No. 6 in updated MVP rankings after helping the Trail Blazers ensure at least a .500 record on their current six-game road trip, which continues tonight in Toronto against the white-hot Raptors, with wins versus the Bulls, Pacers and Knicks...

While Lillard and the Trail Blazers can return home with their heads held high regardless of the result in tonight's contest and the trip finale Sunday night in Detroit versus the Pistons, getting at least one more win would turn what has already been a good trip into a great one while improving Lillard's chances of moving into the Top 5 of MVP rankings next week.

Lillard is ranked by San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard at No. 5 and ahead of Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook at No. 7. Lillard's matchup in tonight's game, Toronto point guard Kyle Lowry, is ranked No. 8.

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Lillard Keeps Pace In This Week's 'Race To The MVP' Rankings

Near the end of Tuesday night's victory versus the Nets, Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard was treated for the first time to chants of "M-V-P! M-V-P! M-V-P" by fans at the Moda Center. While Lillard's stat line of 34 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field, six assists, five rebounds and a steals was worthy of praise on its own, the "M-V-P!" calls on this night seemed to be more of an appreciation of an impressive series of performances that saw the 6-3 guard out of Weber State score at least 30 points in five consecutive games, all Trail Blazers' victories.

“It felt like a ‘You’re Ours’ type of chant,’’ Lillard said after Wednesday's practice. “It wasn’t even like a ‘You’re going to win MVP’ … It was more like, ‘If nobody else appreciates you, we appreciate you’ type of thing."

But lately, that appreciation has not been unique to Trail Blazers fans. Now that the Trail Blazers are still in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race, people outside of Rip City are starting to come around on Lillard's MVP credentials. That includes NBA.com's Sekou Smith, who puts Lillard at No. 6 in this week's "Race To The MVP" rankings...

This is the first time this season that Lillard has made the Top 10 in MVP rankings. He's behind Clippers point guard Chris Paul at No. 5 and ahead of Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard at No. 7.

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Lillard Added To NBA's 'Race To The MVP' Ranking For The First Time This Season

It's been a while since we checked in on NBA.com's weekly "Race To The MVP Ladder" rankings, so let's catch up on where LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard stack up among the most valuable players in the NBA this season.

Aldridge comes in at No. 6 this week, a four-spot improvement from last week ...

After taking the first two games this season, the Trail Blazers could clinch the season series with the Thunder by winning tonight's game, always a nice ace to have up your sleeve in case the Western Conference playoff race comes down to tiebreakers. Portland, as we saw on Sunday versus the Grizzlies, needs Aldridge to beat the best teams in the league, and with the way Westbrook has been playing, the Thunder certainly qualify as one of the best right now.

Aldridge is ranked behind Atlanta point guard Jeff Teague at No. 5 and ahead of Golden State guard Klay Thompson at No. 7.

As for Lillard, he comes in at No. 9 this week, two spots lower than last week ...

Wednesday night's performance was a step in the right direction for Lillard and Wesley Matthews, both of whom have experienced minor lulls in their three-point shooting percentage since the start of February. But both players, particularly Lillard, have tried to attack the basket more often while waiting for the three ball to come back around, so it's not all bad.

Lillard is ranked behind Grizzlies center Marc Gasol at No. 8 and ahead of Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry at No. 10.

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Aldridge, Lillard Keep Pace In NBA 'Race To The MVP' Rankings

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LaMarcus Aldridge had been a mainstay of the NBA.com "Race To The MVP" ladder for much of the season, rising to as high as No. 3 to start 2014 after leading the Trail Blazers to one of the best records in the NBA. Aldridge held the three-spot for a month before the first signs of a groin injury that would sideline the three-time All-Star took a bite out of his effectiveness.

He fell out of the Top 10 completely after the All-Star break as he struggled to find his rhythm after the groin injury, just as the Trail Blazers struggled to win close games against playoff-caliber teams. So by time his lower back was contused in the March 12 loss to the Spurs, Aldridge was already out of the MVP conversation.

But seeing how bad the Trail Blazers could be without Aldridge seems to have reminded people just how good he has been this season. After losing three-straight games with Aldridge on the bench, included a 30-point blowout loss to the Bobcats and a double-digit loss to the Orlando Magic, the 6-11 power forward returned to the lineup and almost instantly turned the team's fortunes. Since his return in the March 27 game against the Hawks in Atlanta, the Trail Blazers have rattled off four-straight wins and look like the team that some considered, at least at one point earlier in the season, as a darkhorse to win the Western Conference.

And the MVP ranking has taken notice. By virtue of righting the ship at just the right time, Aldridge returns to the MVP Ladder this week, coming in at No. 8 ...

When the Blazers went 4-1 without Aldridge after the All-Star break, you heard whispers here and there that maybe the team could actually be better without him. But the way the team struggled in their second stint with Aldridge on the injured list was definitive proof that this team goes nowhere without their best player. It also proved his qualifications as an MVP-caliber player this season.

Aldridge is ranked behind Golden State's Stephen Curry at No. 7 and ahead of New York's Carmelo Anthony at No. 9.

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LaMarcus Aldridge's Triumphant Return To the NBA.com MVP Rankings

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Hard to complain too much about LaMarcus Aldridge's drop in this week's "Race To The MVP Ladder" on NBA.com. The Trail Blazers have lost seven of their last 10 games and Aldridge will be out until at least Tuesday with a left groin strain, so seeing L.A. drop from No. 5 all the way down to No. 9 is to be somewhat expected ...

"Could get dicey" is being nice. The Blazers might be able to sweat out a week or so without their leading scorer and rebounder whose PER is more than five points higher than the next-best on the team, but anything longer than that and the drop in the standings is going to be precipitous. The Blazers, currently sitting fifth in the Western Conference standings, have a 3.5 game lead over the Suns and Warriors, teams that sit at sixth and seventh, respectively, so they've got a little bit of a cushion, but that will evaporate quickly with Aldridge on the bench for much longer. Which, in a way, bolsters his MVP credentials.

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Injury Drops Aldridge In NBA.com MVP Rankings

A tough week for Trail Blazers in regards to their standings on the NBA.com Race To The MVP rankings. After being named to the Western Conference All-Stars last Thursday, LaMarcus Aldridge drops two spots and Damian Lillard drops completely out of this week's rankings.

After over a month at No. 3 behind only Kevin Durant and LeBron James, Aldridge is overtaken Indiana's Paul George and L.A.'s Blake Griffin to end up at No. 5 in this week's rankings ...

Hard to argue with much of that. One thing worth pointing out is the Clippers have also lost three of their last five games, though Griffin has been quiet good even in losses.

As for Lillard, he is replaced in the Top 10 by Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki after being ranked No. 10 last week. The second-year point guard is still averaging a respectable 18.0 points, 5.2 assists, 4.2 rebounds on 41 percent shooting in his last five games, but those numbers don't rise to the level needed to be considering a fringe MVP candidate (inasmuch as any player aside from Durant and James are actual candidates). He's also shooting just 24 percent from three in his last five games, which is a full 16 percentage points lower than his season average. Get that number back up, and maybe win a couple events on All-Star Saturday night,   and he'll likely find his way back in the Top 10 soon after.

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Aldridge Falls, Lillard Drops Out Of NBA.com MVP Rankings

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