A primer on picking MVP

With media members soon to begin weighing their criteria for NBA postseason awards, guard James Harden said he would balance each of the factors considered — value, player of the year, team success — when judging the candidacy of MVP candidates.

“I think all of the above,” Harden said Sunday. “I think obviously, individually you have to have a really, really good season, but your team has to be in position to be one of the top teams in your respective conference. Then, just look how valuable you are to that team. If you’re taken off that team, is your team still good; are you still playoff contenders?

“All that adds into one. Obviously, you have to be winning. And you just have to be having an unbelievable year.”

Harden and the Rockets (46-21) have the third-best record in the NBA after beating Cleveland, two games better than LeBron James and the Cavaliers (43-22) and six games behind Kawhi Leonard and San Antonio (51-14).

Harden leads the NBA in assists and is third in scoring. Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook leads in scoring and is third in assists.

Asked how he defines the MVP, guard Pat Beverley was succinct.

“James Harden,” Beverley said. “No matter what the media say, no matter what the people say, everybody in the league knows who the MVP is.”

But Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said voters might overlook James because he has won four times.

“It’s like Shaq (O’Neal) when he played,” Lue said. “He’s the most dominant player; he doesn’t get MVP every year. For what he does, what he brings, do everything on the floor, guard five positions, he’s not going to win MVP every year just because of how it is. Guys are playing great. When guys are playing above how they played in the past, they have a good chance to win MVP.”

Coaches credited for turnaround

The Rockets went into Sunday’s game with a chance to clinch a playoff spot.

That has not been in doubt through much of the season, but it did indicate how far they had come since last season, when they were not assured a place in the postseason until the final day of the season.

“I think the coaching staff did a really good job of helping us fix the culture we had last year,” guard James Harden said. “The addition of new players with the same players we have, we meshed really well together since the beginning of the season, since the summertime. Even to now, we have good vibes. We might lose a few in a row, but we know it’s back to work. We have to figure out what we need to correct and just go out there and play harder. We’ve been doing it all year. That makes up for everything.”

The Rockets’ longest losing streak of the season is two games.

“Since last year, it’s a different team,” center Clint Capela said. “We are better than last year. We play every game to win. We don’t think about if we win we go to the playoffs. We have the mindset to come into the game to win, play hard, be aware of the tendencies of each player. But of course, since 11 months, our team is way different.”