USA TODAY International Edition
Making a case for MVP candidates
Harden launched runaway Rockets from get-go and never slowed
We didn’t know it at the time, but James Harden’s MVP story began on opening night.
It was Oct. 17 at Oracle Arena, and his Rockets downed defending champion Golden State 122-121 in a game that featured Chris Paul at his worst. Harden’s new co-star had four points in 33 minutes to go with 10 assists and aggravated a knee injury that night that would sideline him for nearly a month. With Paul sitting out the fourth quarter, Harden had 27 points, 11 assists and six rebounds en route to the tone-setting win.
This wasn’t the one-star script that coach Mike D’Antoni had in mind, with Paul having forced his way to Houston via trade to help lighten Harden’s workload. Yet by the time Paul came back, the Rockets had won 10 of 14 games and Harden — who was edged out by Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook for MVP last season — was still at his best. He hasn’t stopped since. Harden is the MVP over LeBron James because he did it from beginning to end, leading the Rockets to the top of a Western Conference that the Warriors were supposed to dominate. And the way he did it, with that lethal combination of scoring and playmaking on one end and a much-improved defensive effort on the other, makes him worthy of the league’s top individual award.
According to Basketball-Reference. com, Harden (30.6 points, 8.7 assists and 5.4 rebounds going into Tuesday) is about to become the fourth player in history to average at least 30 points, eight assists and five rebounds for a season. The others are Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson and Westbrook.
According to NBA.com, his shooting (league-leading 262 made threes), ability to get to the line (league-leading 721 attempts) and dominate in isolation (1.22 points per possession, according to Synergy, compared to James’ 0.96) make him a peerless scoring talent. What’s more, Harden — despite playing alongside one of the best point guards of all time in Paul — is third in the league in assists for the Rockets team that is tied with the Warriors for the top offensive rating (112.7 points scored per 100 possessions).
Harden’s often-ridiculed defense will never win him any awards, but it could have cost him this one. Instead, he was a capable part of a Rockets defense that is seventh in defensive rating (103.9 points allowed per 100 possessions). James’ Cavs, by contrast, are 29th (109.5).