Lowe's NBA awards: Breaking down the major races

1. James Harden

2. LeBron James

3. Anthony Davis

4. Giannis Antetokounmpo

5. The box score from Phoenix-Dallas on Tuesday

James and Harden are neck-and-neck in almost every metric. The Cavs have outscored opponents by six points per 100 possessions with LeBron on the floor since Cleveland upended its team at the trade deadline, reversing a weird early-season minitrend that had them playing at the same sad level regardless -- a trend unfit for the king.

LeBron since that deadline orgy has been the league's best player. It was enough to surpass Davis and Antetokounmpo. He is going to play all 82 games and lead the league in minutes for a defense-less traveling soap opera that would sink into the…