NBA Awards Watch: James Harden vs. Stephen Curry For MVP

1. James Harden

73 games, 36.9 MPG, 27.2 PPG, 7.0 APG, 5.7 RPG, 1.9 SPG, .438/.369/.866 shooting, 26.6 PER

Last week: 1 (⇔‡”)

Stephen Curry might be more efficient per minute, which helps his team blow the opposition out in three quarters and give the starters most of the fourth to rest. But would Curry actually put up those projected numbers if he played the extra minutes that Harden’s logging every night? Therein lies our dilemma between how effective Curry is in limited minutes vs. how effective Harden is in extra minutes.

If the Houston Rockets climb to the second seed in the Western Conference with Dwight Howard missing about half the season, James Harden has to be the MVP frontrunner. He’s not the best player on the league’s best team, but he has less talent around him and carries the Rockets on a nightly basis. Curry doesn’t always have to do that.

Look, you really can’t go wrong with either of these guys. Looking for holes in their MVP campaign is really a matter of splitting hairs. There will be a time for that at the end of the regular season when we have to make a definitive decision, but Harden had a strong week (28.3 PPG, 7.3 APG, 4.5 RPG, 2.3 SPG, 3-1 record) and if the Warriors opt to rest Curry down the stretch, it could give Harden another microscopic edge in this dead-even race. So for now, he holds the edge.

Next: NBA: Western Conference Contenders And Pretenders

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