Four weeks in, the MVP race has a new leader, and the margin is about as thin as it gets. Victor Wembanyama and Luka Doncic have spent November trading nights that belong in the record book, and this week the tiebreakers fall Wembanyama's way: the league's best efficiency numbers, a perfect attendance record, and a ten-game winning streak. Doncic is scoring at a pace the league has not seen since Wilt Chamberlain.

Scored from a blank slate every week: production and efficiency, team record, games played, on-court impact, and signature performances. No credit for last season, none for the story.

1. Victor Wembanyama, C, San Antonio Spurs — 30.3 PTS, 11.7 REB, 4.4 BLK

Wembanyama is doing things nobody else in the league is doing. His 38.5 efficiency rating and plus-16.6 box plus-minus both lead the NBA; he shoots 63.4 percent on true shooting and blocks 4.4 shots a night. He has played all 12 games, and the Spurs have won ten straight to sit at 10-2 — only the second team ever to win ten straight after an 0-2 start. The signature game of the season is his: 52 points, 24 rebounds and eight blocks against Dallas on November 4, followed by a 40-point game against Phoenix and 32 points, nine rebounds and five blocks in Wednesday's comeback from 22 down at Chicago.

2. Luka Doncic, PG, Los Angeles Lakers — 38.6 PTS, 7.5 REB, 7.6 AST

Doncic leads the league in scoring at 38.6 points a night, at 66.3 percent true shooting. His 361 points through nine games were the most since Wilt Chamberlain in 1962-63, and his seven straight games of 35 points, five rebounds, five assists and five made threes took a run no player had ever stretched to six. He was Western Conference Player of the Week for November 2-8 at 45.0 points a game, capped by 53 against Portland on November 6 — including a 62-foot heave at the halftime buzzer. The Lakers own the league's best record at 11-2. He has missed two games, including November 8 at Detroit with lower back tightness, and twisted his right ankle late in Wednesday's win at Milwaukee, though he said he will be fine. On production alone, nobody touches him.

3. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, PG, Oklahoma City Thunder — 29.7 PTS, 4.3 REB, 4.5 AST

The two-time defending MVP keeps doing the job with Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace both sidelined, and he has not missed a game. He is scoring 29.7 a night, though the efficiency has dipped to 45.3 percent from the field, and the week ended sourly with two straight losses to Portland, including 118-108 on Thursday. Even so, volume, availability and an 8-4 record keep him clear of the pack.

4. Tyrese Maxey, PG, Philadelphia 76ers — 26.7 PTS, 3.4 REB, 5.5 AST

Maxey is the steadiest riser in the race. He has played all 13 of Philadelphia's games, scores 26.7 a night at 62.0 percent true shooting, and the 76ers are 10-3. On Thursday he put up 27 points and eight assists in a 123-112 win over Toronto, sparking the run that erased a 17-point deficit. No signature night matches the two men above him, but his week is the cleanest of the five on every criterion.

5. Stephen Curry, PG, Golden State Warriors — 27.8 PTS, 3.7 REB, 3.9 AST

Curry's on-court case is a top-three case: 27.8 points a night on a staggering 71.9 percent true shooting and a 33.7 efficiency rating. But this list counts availability as a real criterion, and Wednesday changed Curry's season. He left at Houston after less than six minutes with right abdominal soreness, the Rockets ended the Warriors' streak 115-108, and the MRI confirmed an oblique abdominal tear. The team will re-evaluate him in two weeks; reporting puts the expected absence closer to a month. He holds the last spot on production — for now.

First out

Cade Cunningham, PG, Detroit Pistons — 25.0 PTS, 5.2 REB, 7.9 AST. On Thursday he scored a career-high 52 with 11 assists and zero turnovers in a 144-140 double-overtime win at Washington — the first 50-10-0 game since turnovers were first tracked in 1977-78. Detroit is 8-3, and one more week like that puts him in. Jayson Tatum (26.3 PTS, 6.1 REB, 7.5 AST for the 10-2 Celtics) is right there too, but 41.3 percent shooting keeps him out.

The bottom line

A two-man race with a three-man chase. Wembanyama leads on two-way dominance and perfect availability; Doncic on historic scoring and the league's best record. Behind them, health and shooting nights decide everything — and one injury just reshuffled the deck.

Who you got? Drop your Top 5 in the comments — and tell us where we got it wrong. 👇

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