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Thursday NBA Roundup: Westbrook’s MVP Chances Remain Strong, but Winning Matters
- Updated: January 6, 2017
When the NBA names the 2016-17 MVP in a few months, a game from early January could loom large for James Harden and Russell Westbrook. After all, the Houston Rockets’ 118-116 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder was a triple-double away from serving as a microcosm of the race for the league’s biggest individual award.
Houston’s bearded point guard struggled with turnovers (as usual) but finished with an efficient 26 points, eight rebounds and 12 assists. That line doesn’t even include the brilliant play he made with the game on the line, drawing multiple defenders during the final seconds and then slipping the ball to Nene, who drew a foul and took the lead at the stripe:
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It does, however, include this beauty of a three-pointer:
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Westbrook matched him step for step.
The dynamic floor general was a terror, recording 49 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals while shooting 16-of-34 from the field and making a career-high eight triples, which you can see below:
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His vision was also on display, most notably when he stepped his way through traffic and dumped the rock to Andre Roberson:
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But Westbrook’s heroics weren’t enough.
Even after he helped his team erase a double-digit deficit and tie the game with seconds to spare, he couldn’t capitalize on an advantageous situation. And that’s why, if the margin between these two leading candidates remains close after 82 games, voters could look back at the final possessions (not including the Thunder’s desperation tip attempt with 0.7 seconds remaining).
When Westbrook had a chance to take the lead, he settled for a contested three against Harden. Little action occurred other than the isolation set, and his attempt clanged off the iron. Conversely, Harden made the proper play and earned the victorious postgame interview with TNT.
CBSSports.com’s Matt Moore commented on the implications of Harden’s play:
Harden’s willingness to make that pass should be assessed in MVP conversation
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) January 6, 2017
Those brief moments may not seem significant over the course of a season, but they sum up the portion of the unofficial MVP criteria in which Westbrook trails.
Typically, the man who holds up the Maurice Podoloff Trophy achieves statistical excellence, has a narrative working in his favor and is on a successful team.
There’s no question Harden and Westbrook have numbers working in their favor, but the latter’s are superior. After this scoring outburst, he’s averaging 31.4 points, 10.4 rebounds and 10.3 assists. Even including Oscar Robertson’s historic triple-double season, which came during an era that featured far more possessions per 48 minutes, we’ve never seen anything like this.
That also aids him in the narrative department. So long as he averages a triple-double, his resume for that criterion will remain unbesmirched.
But winning matters. It has to. No MVP since Michael Jordan in 1988 has earned the award while playing for a team that finished outside the top two seeds in its conference. Even then, his Chicago Bulls finished third in the East, a mere four games shy of the No. 2 Detroit Pistons.
That may change this year with the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs continuing to perform like juggernauts. But it’s more likely the voters acquiesce to Harden’s record, since his Rockets have yet to lose their 10th game.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” head coach Mike D’Antoni told ESPN.com’s Calvin Watkins about his team’s place in the Western standings. “I didn’t know how good we could be really quick or how good we could be anywhere. They’re picking it up and after about 10 games we got our stride and we got Pat [Beverley] back [from knee injury]. We’ve been good every game and we just got to keep it going.”
Billy Donovan can’t quite say the same about his Thunder, who fell to 21-16 after this disappointing finish.
And while …
