The regular season in the NBA is coming to its end, and the MVP race is more fierce than ever. Stephen Curry and James Harden are the two big favorites to win the award for the Most Valuable Player, but Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis aren’t too far away. However, the main battle is between Curry and Harden.
Curry has led the Golden State Warriors all season long and thanks to him, they have been the NBA’s best. The point-guard is making MVP-caliber statements throughout the campaign, and the latest one was his move on Chris Paul, which sent the Clippers player on the floor. Nevertheless, James Harden isn’t too far behind, having career games after career games. The latest impressive thing he did were the 51 points that he scored in the Houston Rockets’ victory over the Sacramento Kings. By the way, those points were a career-high. Furthermore, Harden became the first player in a Houston uniform that has scored fifty or more twice in one season. Not only that, but he is also just the fourth Rocket to have two 50-point games. The other three are Hakeem Olajuwon, Moses Malone and Elvin Hayes, who happen to be Hall of Famers.
The two superstars are just too hard to separate when it comes to answering the question which player deserves the MVP award more. Curry is averaging 23.7 points (48.3% on field goals and 43.4% on three-pointers), 7.8 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 4.4 free-throw attempts per game. On the other hand, Harden is averaging 27.6 points (44.2% on field goals and 37.8% on three-pointers), 7.0 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 10.2 free-throw attempts per game.
Furthermore, Harden was forced to play without Dwight Howard by his side for a large portion of the season. Even though, the Bearded one has kept the Rockets in the tough Western Conference playoff race. Because of his ability to lead a team, he earned a lot of praise from fellow players.
“I think, with him not having Dwight for as long as he did, he’s still competing, still winning games for them,” Anthony Davis said about James Harden “It’s unreal. We kind of say, you take one player out of each team and see who would have the most effect [to figure out] who would be MVP. I think just the way James is playing, I think he’d definitely get his way.”
Furthermore, Dwyane Wade also supported Harden for MVP because of the way he has led the Rockets while Howard was watching from the sidelines.
All of this doesn’t aim to ignore what Stephen Curry has done this season. The Warriors point guard has been magnificent, and there is absolutely no doubt about that. He has kept Golden State on top of the Western Conference for almost the entire season, and we have seen the team struggle mightily when he isn’t on the floor. However, the things that Harden has done during the campaign are spectacular, and he has done them without the help of his most valuable teammate.
NBA News: Can James Harden outrun Stephen Curry in the MVP race?
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