Interesting game this afternoon in Houston as Russell Westbrook and James Harden square off in their MVP duel. There’s so much these two have in common. They both grew up in LA, both idolized Kobe Bryant, both played their high school ball in LA, both attended PAC 12 schools, both were picked surprisingly high in their respective draft classes by Sam Presti, and of course both have ascended to the top of the NBA hierarchy with teams which aren’t at the time considered top NBA title contenders.
This is the last time these two teams meet in the regular season. This game might or might not be the determinant with voters for their MVP vote, but it’s one of those games you have to put in the must see category. I have Westbrook as a narrow leader in the race as they enter today’s game. In no way is this because I devalue what Harden has done, but rather of what Westbrook has done with much less around him on his roster.
When Westbrook has tripled doubled the Thunder are 29-6, when he hasn’t the Thunder are 12-24.It hasn’t been a stat gimmick kind of thing although ‘some’ have made an issue with some of his rebounding stats. It’s more of a case of Westbrook needing to do these things on a regular basis for the Thunder to be standing at 41-30 entering today versus being one of the bottom dwelling teams in the league.
Without Westbrook, I’d guestimate this team would be something like 14-57 or of the such. Instead, OKC is fighting for a fifty win season and a No. 5 seed, and that’s why I have Russell Westbrook as my MVP heading into today’s game.