Mavericks' Luka Doncic closes MVP gap after historic night

Luka Doncic's assault on the NBA record book also had a major impact on his pursuit of a first league Most Valuable Player award. Doncic posted career highs of 60 points and 21 rebounds, dished out 10 assists and converted a put-back with one second left to force overtime in the Dallas Mavericks' 126-121 win over the visiting New York Knicks on Tuesday. In the hours after the first 60/20/10 performance in NBA history, oddsmakers reacted by shortening Doncic's MVP odds. Entering the game, Doncic was being offered a +450 at DraftKings along with Denver's two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic. After the historic performance, Doncic vaulted past Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo (+400) and is now behind only Boston's Jayson Tatum (+250) as the new year approaches. Jokic continues to lead the way at the sportsbook with 18 percent of the money bet on the MVP market. However, Doncic leads by a wide margin with 26 percent of the total bets - more than double that of Philadelphia's Joel Embiid at 13 percent. Doncic is also second with 12 percent of the money backing him. Doncic has also been the most popular MVP choice at BetMGM, where he leads the way with 13.5 percent of the total bets and 17.0 percent of the money at +400 along with Jokic behind only Tatum at +275. Jokic beat out Embiid and Antetokounmpo last year to become the 13th player in history to earn consecutive MVP awards. BetMGM release action reports on Wednesday for several individual NBA honors: Regular Season MVP Highest Ticket%: Luka Doncic 13.5% Highest Handle%: Luka Doncic 17.0% Biggest Liability: Zion Williamson Odds Leader: Jayson Tatum +275 Rookie of the Year Highest Ticket%: Jaden Ivey 24.7% Highest Handle%: Paolo Banchero 41.2% Biggest Liability: Jaden Ivey Odds Leader: Paolo Banchero -700 Sixth Man of the Year Highest Ticket%: Normal Powell 14.4% Highest Handle%: Jordan Poole 20.2% Biggest Liability: Norman Powell Odds Leader: Russell Westbrook +160 Most Improved Player of the Year Highest Ticket%: Zion Williamson 14.4% Highest Handle%: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 19.4% Biggest Liability: Zion Williamson Odds Leader: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander -175 Defensive Player of the Year Highest Ticket%: Rudy Gobert 9.1% Highest Handle%: Giannis Antetokounmpo 17.9% Biggest Liability: Jaren Jackson Jr. Odds Leader: Brook Lopez +175 Coach of the Year Highest Ticket%: Willie Green 24.9% Highest Handle%: Joe Mazzulla 33.7% Biggest Liability: Willie Green Odds Leader: Joe Mazzulla +200 --Field Level Media