Russell Westbrook or James Harden: Who’s got more to prove this year?

James Harden and Russell Westbrook are phenomenal players, but both still have plenty left to prove come postseason time.

Russell Westbrook and James Harden have spent the better part of this decade establishing themselves as two of the best at their position.

The former is coming off his third straight triple-double season — a feat he’s somehow normalized — while the latter just posted the highest single-season scoring average since the 1960s.

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Since sharing the spotlight for the Oklahoma City Thunder, both wound up branching out on their own and are now first-ballot Hall of Famers because of it.

However, for as gaudy as their numbers may be, their statistical achievements have come at a price, one they’ve paid dearly for each spring.

Having not played on the same team since 2012, these dynamic guards are now reunited on the Houston Rockets. Many are skeptical about the pairing despite the history behind it, citing the two most ball-dominant seasons that belong in their name.

How they’ll mesh on the court is a question better suited for October at the earliest. Given the lack of postseason success to match their other-worldly talent, what they can accomplish together will go a long way towards determining their legacy for better or worse.

It’s not just that Harden’s had some disappointing playoff losses. Even the most legendary athletes have faced their share of missed expectations. Almost on purpose, it seems, he winds up with an ill-timed performance that draws a heightened level of ire from across the NBA world.

Despite advancing to the Western Conference Finals in 2015, Houston bowed out to the Golden State Warriors in five games.

There’s no shame in losing to the eventual champions, but for Harden to post a new record for the most turnovers in a postseason game with 12 in the eliminating Game 5 was not a pretty sight.

The very next season, Houston found itself the eighth seed out west in part due to the friction caused by both Harden and Dwight Howard.

In a matchup once again with Golden State where two-time MVP Stephen Curry played just 38 total minutes, the Rockets couldn’t push the series farther than five games.

In an elimination Game 6 against the San Antonio Spurs in 2017, Harden shot just 2-of-11 for 10 points. The Spurs would win by an eye-opening final score of 114-75 despite the absence of Kawhi Leonard in that game.

After Chris Paul went down with a calf injury late in Game 5 of the 2018 conference finals, the stage was set for Harden to dethrone the dynastic Warriors with a legacy-defining outing in Game 7 on his home turf.

His 32 points weren’t a choke job, but he shot just 2-of-13 from distance and 12-for-29 overall, squandering a lead as high as 15 to succumb to the Dubs once again.

In the three seasons since the departure of Kevin Durant, Russ took it upon himself to keep the Thunder afloat.

It was a level of ball dominance deemed necessary without a worthy co-star during that inaugural season, which drew him a pass after his flameout against Houston in the opening round.

Once Paul George arrived, that perception changed. Fans and analysts kept waiting for Westbrook to embrace this new All-Star who fell into his lap, and to a certain extent, he did.

His usage rate decreased in each of the following seasons, — although the bar was set rather high — capped off by this past year with the lowest mark since his sophomore campaign.

That sacrifice helped PG put together his best season in the pros in 2018-19, but when it came time to close, Westbrook couldn’t help himself. It’s in part why the Thunder ranked dead-last in clutch-time field goal percentage.

Their point guard wasn’t able to maintain whatever balance he found through the first three quarters.

Come playoff time, Westbrook paid for his selfishness with defenses in a much better position to stifle his constant attacks of the bucket. OKC suffered back-to-back first-round losses where an argument could be made that it should’ve emerged victorious.

The overall fit of the Thunder’s roster is certainly in part to blame for the disappointment, as is the injured shoulder George played through this past postseason.

Those valid arguments pail in comparison to the biggest problem of them all, a high-energy floor general who failed to crack even 40.0 percent shooting in his last two playoff runs.

For as many postseason failures as Harden has to his resume, he’s managed to advance past the opening round in each of the last three seasons. The same can’t be said for Westbrook, whose shortcomings have raised questions about the value his stat-stuffing abilities bring to the table.

While not consistently, Harden has shown a willingness to sacrifice when it matters most.

How quickly people forget Houston’s 65-win campaign in 2017-18, where his greatness alongside the equally ball-dominant CP3 had the Rockets a calf injury away from playing heavy-favorites in the NBA Finals.

Even alongside KD, there was an obvious hierarchy Westbrook was always oblivious to. Now on a new team, someone else’s team, he must take a backseat and find a niche in whatever form that may be to better serve the Rockets along with the legacy he leaves behind.