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04/19 17:29 CDT Wembanyama a finalist for NBA defensive player of the year, Edwards a finalist for clutch player Wembanyama a finalist for NBA defensive player of the year, Edwards a finalist for clutch player By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama is one step closer to what will likely be his first defensive player of the year award. And Minnesota's Anthony Edwards might get an award after all. The NBA began revealing the finalists for this season's top individual awards on Sunday night, and Wembanyama --- to no surprise --- is on that list for Defensive Player of the Year after leading the league in blocked shots for a third consecutive season. Wembanyama, Oklahoma City's Chet Holmgren and Detroit's Ausar Thompson are the three finalists for the top defender award. Edwards is a finalist for Clutch Player of the Year --- even though he fell short of the league's 65-game minimum in most cases for award eligibility. Edwards wasn't on the ballot for MVP, All-NBA and other honors, but was on the Clutch ballot because those nominees were selected by the league's coaches. The finalists for Most Improved Player and Sixth Man of the Year also were announced early Sunday evening. The finalists for Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year will be revealed later Sunday night. Ballots from a panel of writers and broadcasters who cover the league were sent in last week.

The finalists --- Defensive Player of the Year: Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio; Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City; Ausar Thompson, Detroit. --- Clutch Player: Anthony Edwards, Minnesota; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City; Jamal Murray, Denver. --- Most Improved Player: Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta; Deni Avdija, Portland; Jalen Duren, Detroit. --- Sixth Man: Tim Hardaway Jr., Denver; Jaime Jaquez Jr., Miami; Keldon Johnson, San Antonio.

Defensive player of the year Wembanyama was the likely frontrunner to win it last season, but wound up falling short of eligibility after being diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis at the All-Star break and missing the rest of the season. Minnesota's Rudy Gobert's bid for a fifth DPOY award --- which would break a record --- will continue for at least one more year.

Clutch Player Gilgeous-Alexander led the league in clutch scoring per game, with Edwards second. Denver had two legitimate candidates with Murray and Nikola Jokic; voters clearly gave Murray the edge. Clutch scoring is defined as points that come in the final five minutes of a game where the point differential between teams is five or less.

Sixth Man of the Year Jaquez averaged 15.4 points in 74 appearances off the bench, Johnson averaged 13.2 points --- after playing in all 82 Spurs games as a reserve --- and Hardaway also averaged 13.2 points in the 74 games where he came off Denver's bench. The winner will be a first-time selection for the award.

Most Improved Player Avdija averaged 24.2 points and led Portland's surge to the playoffs, while Alexander-Walker --- bidding to give Atlanta its second consecutive MIP winner after Dyson Daniels last season --- averaged 20.8 points, by far the most his career. Duren was a first-time All-Star selection and averaged 19.5 points, almost double what he averaged last season despite playing basically the same amount of minutes. ___ AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA