Thunder’s Westbrook focused on playoffs, not historic season

So, while Westbrook and Harden are (deservedly) the front-runners for this year’s MVP award, it would be silly to suggest that Curry is having a “down” year.

Scoring 16.2 points per game, Eric Gordon is the favorite to win the 2017 Sixth Man of the Year award.

As the Thunder prepare for the Houston Rockets, they can find some upside in the fact that the Rockets only outscored them by 0.9 points per 100 possessions with Westbrook on the floor, versus 7.3 per 100 with him off.

“I just go out when my name is called”, he said. (Corey Brewer found this out the hard way.) Of the Rockets’ key wing guys who can shoot the basketball, a lot of them can hurt opponents in other ways. I don’t worry about being exhausted. “I think the (MVP) votes were in today, so that shit’s over with, that means nothing at all right now”.

Despite that, Westbrook has had a historic season against the most stacked position in the National Basketball Association – say what you will about the usage, how he doesn’t make his teammates better and chasing stats, but it’s clear no team has truly stopped him this season. He played through a jammed left wrist for about two weeks and had other assorted ailments. Or, will Harden guard Westbrook and Westbrook guard Beverley? San Antonio has won the last two, including a first-round sweep last season. The last player to average 30 points and 10 rebounds was Karl Malone in 1989-90. This reasoning is beyond D’Antoni’s capabilities, so it’s unlikely that the Thunder will be stopped by the Rockets who rest on defense and play at a hectic pace, so there will be attempts and points to be had.

OSCAR ROBERTSON, Retired NBA Player: When Russell was on this journey, I felt that I just had to be here. The Rockets’ bench is much deeper than their opponents and you figure that will come into play as this series progresses and the crunch time minutes get altered depending on how games are flowing and what the foul situation is.

The workload for Harden changed this season, unlike in previous years. Last season he averaged 85.1 touches per game, 13 in the league. It’s never smart to underestimate Westbrook’s resolve, but the Thunder had a losing road record this season and the NBA’s worst 3-point percentage. The mental fatigue Harden dealt with, in addition to the physical energy he used, finally caught up to him. And, they did lose five of seven games at one point in February and March, around the loss of Kevin Durant to a knee injury.

Harden said after that season, the Rockets needed upgrades to the roster and started his offseason training earlier than usual. D’Antoni coached the Rockets to the NBA’s third-best record (55-27), a scoring average of 115.3 and a league-record total of 1,181 made 3-point shots.

Aside from their struggles against the Golden State Warriors, the Thunder have played competitively against the NBA’s top teams. If you can limit them and make it all about Harden, you do it. The match-up pits the two MVP front-runners and former teammates, who are eager to lead their team to victory and settle the MVP debate once and for all. And while it was Harden leading the charge, as he said, there was help. So let’s take a look at a few of those factors and yes, we’ll get into James Harden and Russell Westbrook as well. There was a reasonable belief that OKC might miss the playoffs, but Donovan achieved a 47-win finish and the No. 6 seed in the West.

It will be interesting to see how many voters share his thoughts.

“It’s hard to pick that”, Frazier said. You can’t go wrong with Russell, and you can’t go wrong with James.