NBA MVP Power Rankings: New No. 1 rises after Embiid vs Jokic showdown

4. Luka Doncic

Last week's rank: 3

Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic has been on a slight decline over the past few weeks. He will need to redeem himself against the Boston Celtics on Monday night.

The Dallas Mavs welcomed back Doncic after a week-long ankle sprain that kept him out of multiple key games. Wednesday's game against the Los Angeles Lakers would be his first game back, and it didn't go quite to plan for the Mavericks.

Despite Doncic being healthy, the Mavericks came out sluggish against the Lakers. Doncic was the one exception, as he finished the game with 33 points, but his impact was minimal as the Mavs couldn't make a shot to save their lives. The team shot just 27 percent from behind the 3-point line.

To add insult to injury, the Mavericks race for homecourt advantage has grown farther away with the loss to the Lakers. It's important the Mavericks start to win games early if they wish to be within the top six seeds. Having a full roster is a good start.

Doncic's race for MVP has also grown further as he has recently dropped behind OKC's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. With a win over Boston on Monday night, it could convince enough fans to put the Slovenian above Shai, as these two players continue to be compared to each other often.

For now, Doncic will need to do his talking on the court and show the voters why he is deserving of the MVP. A win over the Celtics could do just that.