That mop-haired Canadian did it again, running away with his second consecutive NBA Most Valuable Player award.

Steve Nash — the maestro of the fast, frenetic Phoenix Suns — beat runner-up LeBron James of Cleveland by a comfortable margin in results announced yesterday.

He is the ninth player to win consecutive MVP trophies and joins Magic Johnson as the only point guards to win the award more than once.

"I have to pinch myself," Nash said. "I can't believe that I'm standing here today. I couldn't believe it last year, and to do it again is even more difficult to understand — but I'm not going to give it back."

The Suns playmaker received 57 first-place votes and 924 points overall from a panel of 125 sports writers and broadcasters in the United States and Canada.

James had 16 first-place votes and 688 points overall.

Dirk Nowitzki of Dallas was third with 14 first-place ballots and 544 overall. Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers had the second-most votes for first place (22), but was fourth overall with 483 points.

The 32-year-old Nash is the 11th player to win the MVP award more than once.

ELSEWHERE

Defensive player: Detroit center Ben Wallace won the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award for the fourth time in five years, a person within the Pistons organization told The Associated Press yesterday. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the award has not been announced, said Wallace will be presented with the award tomorrow before Game 2 of the second-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.