2016-17 NBA Awards Season: Ranking The Top 4 MVP Candidates
Defense
This is close to a wash, because neither Harden nor Westbrook are respected defenders. They both hovered around “average” this season, often slipping into “below average” territory depending on their workload on the offensive end.
For starters, there’s the obvious gap in defense between the two teams. The Thunder were the NBA’s 10th-ranked defense, while Houston finished 18th. Per Basketball-Reference, Westbrook finished 13th in the league in defensive rating and eighth in defensive win shares; Harden didn’t crack the top 20 in either category.
However, even with Russ holding those advantages and a slight edge in steals, his gambling often put the Thunder’s top-10 defense in a tough position. For those paying attention, Westbrook committed far more brain farts losing his man on defense this year than Harden did.
The media railed on James Harden for years over his lazy defense but won't utter a peep about Westbrook's same issues. Hilarious.
— Particle Man (@JesseGladsaget) April 3, 2017
We should also mention that as often as people cite Harden’s superior help on the offensive end, Westbrook’s defensive metrics are bolstered by OKC’s collection of elite defenders, including Victor Oladipo, Steven Adams and an All-Defensive caliber wing in Andre Roberson.
If Harden’s MVP case takes a hit because he has better offensive weapons around him, so too should Westbrook’s when any perceived defensive advantages get brought up.
Harden remains the scapegoat for Houston’s defensive shortcomings, but like his 2014-15 MVP-caliber season, he was actually more passable on that end than in the past if you actually paid attention. It’s super close, but even though the on/off numbers favor Westbrook, the eye test gives Harden the edge.