The Nuggets have been battered and bruised by perhaps the greatest MVP race in the history of the NBA.
Russell Westbrook, the Oklahoma City star who has become a walking triple-double, has produced two of them in as many victories over Denver this season. James Harden had a 40-point triple-double in one game and a game-winning bucket two nights later as he led Houston to a four-game sweep in the season series against the Nuggets, the losses crippling Denver’s chances to grab the final playoff spot in the West.
The Nuggets have been casualties, perhaps as much as any team, of the all-out assault Westbrook and Harden have launched on the league. The childhood friends from the Los Angeles area, who were once teammates with the Thunder, have compiled two of the greatest statistical seasons the league has ever seen.
As the two stars have left helpless defenders in their wake, they’ve created an almost impossible question. How do you choose a winner as Most Valuable Player?
“I like Kobe (Bryant’s) idea: give them co-MVP,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “They are both more than deserving. It’s a heck of a race. What Westbrook has done is amazing. And then you look at James Harden’s stats. He got the flu in Phoenix (on April 2), and that’s the only game he’s missed all year. This season is a grind, and for both of those guys to play at the level they’ve played at every single night, it’s amazing. They are both worthy candidates.”
The raw numbers for each player are stunning. The 6-foot-3 Westbrook will become the first player since Oscar Robertson in 1962 to average a triple-double for an entire season. He enters Sunday’s game against the Nuggets needing one more triple-double to reach 42 for the year, a number that would surpass Robertson for the most ever in a single season. Westbrook, a nightly blur of endless energy and attacking basketball, is averaging a league-leading 31.8 points to go along with 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game. He’s had two 50-point triple-doubles and a “perfect” triple-double, when he shot 6-of-6 from the field while finishing with 18 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds in a victory over Philadelphia last month.
“I can say this without blinking, that what Russell Westbrook has done truly — even though Harden is close to him — but what he’s done, he’s got to be the MVP of the league,” Robertson told USA Today.
Harden’s supporters, too, announce his claim to the award with incredulous certainty. They point to the 6-5 Harden, with a game built on precision and awareness, likely becoming the first player in NBA history to tally 2,000 points, 900 assists and 600 rebounds in the same season. Or his becoming the first player ever to have at least 50 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists in a game when he had a career-high 53 to go along with 16 rebounds and 17 assists against New York on Dec. 31. They’ll point to Harden leading the league in assists at 11.2 while also averaging 29.2 points (second in the NBA) and 8.1 rebounds.
“There’s no way that he can’t get it. There’s just absolutely no way,” Rockets guard Eric Gordon said Wednesday, after Harden scored 15 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter, including the clinching 3-pointer, in a 110-104 victory over the Nuggets. “If you look at the history, when you have a guy who is almost averaging a triple-double and his team is winning games, I mean, you can’t take that away from him. Yeah, Westbrook is averaging a triple-double — that is a crazy stat — but there’s definitely no ways (Harden’s) name won’t be on that MVP.”
The campaigns gain more weight against the background out of what Oklahoma City and Houston each needed out of its stars this season. When Kevin Durant left the Thunder to join Golden State as a free agent last summer, pundits picked the Thunder to finish in the eighth spot, or out of the playoffs entirely. Instead, Westbrook, a superstar alongside Durant, embraced the responsibility of having an even larger presence. He’s led the Thunder to the verge of clinching the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference.
Then there was Harden, who made the move to point guard under new coach Mike D’Antoni, becoming Steve Nash 2.0 under the coach who had revolutionized offensive basketball with Phoenix in the 2000s. The Rockets, who squeaked into the playoffs at 41-41 last season, have already clinched the No. 3 seed in the West, likely setting up an enticing first-round matchup between the two leading candidates for most valuable player.
By then the MVP votes will have already been cast. The only certainty in the race? Filling out the top of that ballot will not have been easy.
“It’s hard,” Nuggets guard said. “Westbrook is making history. And then what Harden is doing with that team, they are two valid candidates. Whoever gets it is definitely going to deserve it. They both deserve it.”
Who’s the MVP?
Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the per-game numbers put up this season by Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook and Houston’s James Harden:
Westbrook … Stat … Harden
45-33 … Team Rec. … 53-25
31.8 … Points … 29.2
10. 4 … Assists … 11.2
10.7 … Rebounds … 8.1
42.6 … FG pct. … 44.1
34.7 … 3pt. pct. … 34.5
84.1 … FT pct. … 85
