Don't engrave that MVP trophy with Allen Iverson's name just yet. Chris Webber has been making a strong case all season in Sacramento and deserves consideration. Shaq has been a monster since the All-Star break.

	Duncan has been unstoppable in the past month or so.

But guess who's coming on strong down the stretch, when the wheat separates from the chaff and the men are separated from the boys?

Tim Duncan, that's who.

Over the past couple months, no one has been playing consistently better and dominating basketball than the Spurs' uber forward. He has shaken off a slow start and is on your proverbial roll right now, as is his team. In case you haven't noticed, they have moved atop the alpha Western Conference and had a chance on Thursday night to take the overall lead from the struggling 76ers.

If nothing else, Duncan has made this a three-man race, especially if the Spurs remain where they are. (Shaq is, at best, No. 4 this season.) San Antonio has been the best team in basketball over the past two months, going on a 25-5 streak which included back-to-back road wins over Portland and the Lakers. It is an eerily similar swath to the one they cut in 1999 en route to their first NBA championship, when they closed the regular season by winning 31 of 36.

Duncan was the best player in the league that season and was robbed of the MVP by Karl Malone. He got the last laugh, of course. While Malone was back home in his mountain aerie in Utah, Duncan got to hug the Larry O'Brien Trophy on the floor of Madison Square Garden after his team dispatched the Knicks in five games. Duncan was deservedly named the MVP of the NBA Finals.

Arguing the case for an MVP can be a risky proposition, especially when there is no dominant candidate. Last year, Shaquille O'Neal was an open and shut case for the award, which every voter but one recognized.

This year, it's not so crystalline. But if one criterion is the best player on the best team, it's hard not to make a case for the estimable Mr. Duncan.

	“	When Tim turned it on, we became a different team," Kerr added. "Early on, for whatever reason, he didn't look comfortable. He was a little hesitant. Then, all of a sudden, it was as if something clicked. He's moving quicker. He's moving stronger. He's drawing fouls. He's at the top of his game now. ”
		— Steve Kerr on Duncan

Duncan has been putting up some jaw-dropping numbers lately as his team mows down most everyone in its sight. He has five 20/20 games this season, including two in a five-day stretch earlier this month against Minnesota and Portland. He is the runaway league leader in double-doubles (56 as of Wednesday.) Since his rookie season, he has 30 more double-doubles than anyone else in the league.

Meanwhile, he is doing this in a conference which boasts at least seven All-Star caliber power forwards: Duncan, Malone, Webber, Kevin Garnett, Antonio McDyess, Dirk Nowitzki and Rasheed Wallace. The same holds true for Webber, of course. The difference now is in the standings. Duncan's Spurs have overtaken Webber's Kings and everyone else and the main reason is that Duncan is playing like the Duncan of old at both ends of the floor.

A case in point: the Celtics' Antoine Walker. Against Webber and Sacramento, Walker had 47 points and 13 assists. On Wednesday, hounded by Duncan, Walker turned into a cipher. He managed only 13 points, most of them when Duncan was not guarding him. He missed 16 of 22 shots. The reason was Duncan. He is the best defensive power forward in the game and now his offensive game (save for a mystifying drop in free-throw shooting) has now come around. You have the full package now and it's pretty impressive.

"Since the first month or six weeks of the season, he has been on a roll," teammate Steve Kerr said of Duncan. Kerr, of course, is as seasoned a judge of MVP worthiness as you can find, having been on Michael Jordan's watch for three years.

"When Tim turned it on, we became a different team," Kerr added. "Early on, for whatever reason, he didn't look comfortable. He was a little hesitant. Then, all of a sudden, it was as if something clicked. He's moving quicker. He's moving stronger. He's drawing fouls. He's at the top of his game now."

	DUNCAN BY MONTH
	Month	Pts	Reb
	Nov.	17.8	12.1
	Dec.	20.2	11.1
	Jan.	23.2	11.8
	Feb.	24.1	12.6
	March	23.1	14.3

Agrees David Robinson, "the last 30 or so games, he has been outstanding, unbelievable. His confidence level has really risen. He's playing fantastic."

Even with this late spurt, it may be too late for Duncan to overtake the kinetic Iverson, whose unwavering play and sacrifice epitomize the essence of the 76ers. Philadelphia's catalyst has been the undisputed leader of a team which roared from the blocks at 10-0 and, until Wednesday, had never looked back. The team has fallen a bit the past week as Iverson nurses a sore hip.

Iverson already has an All-Star Game MVP award on his resume and it would surprise no one, including some of Duncan's teammates, if he were to walk away with the real thing in June.

"Great players make other players better," said the Spurs' Derek Anderson, "and, because of Allen making everyone else better, you have to look at him. That team is playing well. They're following him. He shoots a lot, granted, but, his attitude is good. They follow his lead. And he's been successful. Chris Webber has done the same thing, but he has more talent (on his team.) I look at the talent (on Philadelphia) and Allen is making everyone else better. That's what Jordan did, make those other guys look like All-Stars."

So does Duncan. In fact, he's making Anderson look like an All-Star as the ex-Cav/Clipper adds his own, missing dimension to the Spurs. They now have a slasher/perimeter scorer to complement Duncan and Robinson. Anderson was already a solid player when he arrived in San Antonio. He's now a star. Danny Ferry is no longer seen as a defensive liability in San Antonio. Gee, wonder why?

"Tim is always going to be an MVP candidate," Anderson said. "He could win it every year if you look at his numbers, attitude and success. The thing is, sometimes you don't notice that. You end up looking around the league and someone pops up. Every year Jordan could have won it, too. But you have to look at who's sacrificing the most, who has been the most consistent, who makes his team and his teammates better. Tim could win it easily, every year."

Like this one.

Peter May, who covers the NBA for the Boston Globe, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.