If Westbrook wins the award and loses this series, Harden will forever be considered the rightful victor of this season's Most Valuable Player honor.
"I like to pay attention to my team, but obviously I know he's playing well", Westbrook said of Harden on March 26. But once in a very rare while an athlete crosses thresholds that are so rarely achieved and do so in such over-whelming fashion that history will never forget. While the stats are not as flashy as Harden and Westbrook, Leonard is a lock down defender who has a tremendous impact on the game past the stat sheet. But it's been a insane year.
James Harden recorded his 22nd triple-double and the Rockets parlayed a 3-point barrage early in the third quarter into a 123-118 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the season finale for both at Toyota Center. Not only did Westbrook's 50 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists break the record on the Denver Nuggets' home court, but also Westbrook hit the game-winning shot.
Craig Battle: Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs. But an established pattern for victory does. I just was very happy to have this guy on our team. Though Westbrook and Harden have the most convincing resumés for the MVP, their records may prove to be a problem. The average team finish for an MVP? 1.8. In the case of 2016-17, the answer is no. Houston was eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs by Golden State in five games.
All seven of the teams that have lost in the first round as a 3 seed since 2003 shot a lower percentage from the floor in their playoff exit than they did in the regular season. I get to face these great players on a nightly basis, and I just go out there and try to do my job. OKC will have to find a way to win without Westbrook doing it all for the Thunder.
Harden is close here, as he's dominating and his team has 54 wins. If we had a rigid definition, there wouldn't be much room for discussion. Sure, his season wasn't as memorable as Westbrook's or Harden's was. LeBron James is deserving. With that, Harden is the rightful MVP. "I give my all - that's all I think about".
The Thunder certainly can't be counted out, given the way Westbrook has carried them all season long. Just take it day-by-day.
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In the West, the Warriors caught a late-season rhythm but did so mostly without prized off-season acquisition Kevin Durant, who missed 19 games with a knee sprain and is being reinserted into the lineup on the fly.
There's no wrong choice between Westbrook and Harden but I'm giving it to the former. An advantage they do have is that they're the highest-scoring team in the league in the paint. He'll beat you with his athleticism or his clutch shooting - or oftentimes both.
The Warriors' conference-leading 67 wins match their 2014-15 championship season.
He not only leads Westbrook in win shares per 48 but also defensive win shares.
It's clear that the only person capable of at least holding Russell Westbrook back a little bit in this Houston v Oklahoma first round series is Patrick Beverley. He desensitized National Basketball Association fans to the triple-double, and eventually it became news when Westbrook did not accomplish the feat on a given night. Westbrook became a folk hero because he had a strong media narrative sans Durant and chased double digit stats in an arbitrarily determined categories. Harden also may have one too many threes to keep his individual offense efficient, but in a D'Antoni offense, that risk/reward trade-off has always been encouraged. That's what I thought.
"Well, I would say (Russell) Westbrook was a topic of conversation, just randomly", he said with a chuckle.
Before Russell Westbrook put the competition to bed over the weekend, when his buzzer-beating game-winner capped off a performance in which he scored 50 points and got his record-breaking 42nd triple-double of the season, some National Basketball Association fans and media were calling the 2016-17 season the deepest Most Valuable Player race in recent history.
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