The Battle of the MVP Hopefuls (Part One)

On Sunday Night, Russell Westbrook’s Oklahoma City Thunder paid a visit to Houston to face James Harden’s Rockets. Both Russell Westbrook and James Harden are two of the favourites for the highly coveted MVP award. This is one of the competitive MVP races in recent history. That’s why head to head between the MVP candidates are so important. Heading into the game, Westbrook was averaging a triple double while also leading the league in scoring, with his team in the 6th seed in the Western Conference. Meanwhile James Harden has flourished under Mike D’Antoni’s coaching and is right behind Westbrook in scoring, while also leading the NBA in assists. He was recently announced as the first player in NBA history to score 2000 points and generate 2000 points from assists in the same season. The Rockets are also the third seed in the incredibly competitive Western conference, another notch on Harden’s belt.

The game last night was honestly a microscopic view of the entire season for Westbrook. He poured in the stats, finishing the game with 39 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds, yet another triple double. He even had a 20 point 4th quarter in his attempt to drag the Thunder to a win. But it was all for nothing, as the Rockets reminded us all on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets/status/846119832395415556

James Harden had 22 points, 12 assists and 5 rebounds. Not really mind-blowing. But he got the W. And as Westbrook is probably going to find out when the winner of the MVP is announced, those really matter.