Earlier this week, the NBA announced that it will hand out awards based on the eight seeding games that occurred in the Orlando Bubble. Those awards were announced on Saturday prior to the first of potentially two play-in games between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Memphis Grizzlies, and to the surprise of no one, Damian Lillard’s torrid form over the last eight games led to him being named the Bubble MVP.
Lillard was given the award unanimously — every single one of the 22 voters put the Blazers star, who averaged a Bubble-high 37.6 points per game, atop their ballots. Devin Booker of the surprising Phoenix Suns came comfortably in second, while T.J. Warren narrowly edged out Luka Doncic for third. Rounding out the field were James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo, both of whom will battle it out with LeBron James for the full-season MVP award.
Coach of the Bubble isn’t a surprise either. Monty Williams, who led the Phoenix Suns to a surprising 8-0 record, comfortably won the award, with 20 of the 21 ballots placing him atop their lists. The only other coach to get a first-place vote was runner-up Terry Stotts of the Portland Trail Blazers. Rounding out the top-3 was Jacque Vaughn, the interim head coach of the Brooklyn Nets.
To wrap up the Bubble awards, the league had voters pick their All-Seeding Game first and second teams. Lillard, Booker, and Doncic were unanimous first-team selections, while Harden and Warren comfortably made it onto that squad, too. For the second-team, Antetokounmpo was joined by Kawhi Leonard, Kristaps Porzingis, Caris LeVert, and Michael Porter Jr.
