Week 14 NBA MVP race: Harden and Westbrook hold steady, Leonard rises
Paste BN Sports' top five candidates for the 2016-17 NBA MVP award (from Sunday, Jan. 29 through Sunday, Feb. 5).
Also receiving votes: Boston Celtics' Isaiah Thomas, Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry, Utah Jazz's Rudy Gobert, Washington Wizards' John Wall.
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5. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
James averaged 26.8 points (on 57.7% shooting), 9.8 assists, nine rebounds, 1.3 steals and a team-high 37 minutes in four games (three wins) this week. The highlight of his week off the court came on Wednesday, when he was given the NAACP Jackie Robinson Sports Award before the game against the Timberwolves. The highlight of his week on the court came on the same night, when he recorded 27 points (on 11-of-14 shooting), 12 assists, eight rebounds and two steals en route to a 125-97 victory. In Saturday's win over the Knicks, James became the youngest player to surpass 28,000 points in a career.
4. Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs
Leonard poured in 36 points (on 13-of-26 shooting) to go along with eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks in Tuesday's 108-94 win over the Thunder in a battle of two of the league's top MVP candidates. It was Leonard's 77th straight game scoring in double figures, the franchise's longest streak since Tim Duncan had 91 in 2002-03. On the season, the sixth-year forward is averaging a career-high 25.3 points and 3.3 assists to go along with 5.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals.
3. Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors
Warriors forward Kevin Durant, who spent his first nine NBA seasons with the Thunder franchise, returns home this coming Saturday for the first time since his offseason departure to The Bay. The game — at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC — will be Durant's third time playing his former team this season. In the first two meetings? He scored 39 and 40 points, respectively, and led the Warriors to two wins — 122-96 and 121-100. As for his performances this week, Durant put up 33 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in Sunday's win over the Blazers with Stephen Curry sidelined, but struggled from the field in Saturday's loss to the Kings, scoring just 10 points on 2-of-10 shooting (0-of-6 from three).
2. Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
In five games this week (two wins, three losses), Westbrook recorded two triple-doubles (his 24th and 25th of the season) and averaged 31 points (on 40% shooting), 10.4 assists, eight rebounds and 1.4 steals. He recorded his eighth 40-point game of the season in Sunday's win over the Trail Blazers. He finished off the game by hitting his first three-pointer of the night with a little over a minute remaining and knocking down five free throws in the final minute. On Friday, his 38-point, 13-rebound, 12-assist outing was also capped off in the fourth quarter, where he scored 19 points to lead the Thunder to a 114-102 win over the Grizzlies.
1. James Harden, Houston Rockets
After back-to-back games with just 15 and 10 points, Harden erupted for 41 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in Thursday night's loss to the Hawks, followed by a 42-point, 12-rebound, nine-assist outing the next night in an overtime win over the Bulls. On the season, Harden has eight 40-plus point games, which is tied with Westbrook for the most in the NBA. He's also averaging 28.9 points (third in NBA), 11.4 assists (first), 8.2 rebounds (third among guards) and has a 34% usage rate (fifth in NBA).
List of voters: Paste BN Sports' Jeff Zillgitt, Sam Amick, Kevin Spain, AJ Neuharth-Keusch and Michael Singer; The Arizona Republic's Doug Haller; The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal's Ronald Tillery; Detroit Free Press' Vince Ellis; Indianapolis Star's Nate Taylor; The (Bergen) Record's Steve Popper; HoopsHype.com's Jorge Sierra and Raul Barrigon; Paste BN Sports Weekly's Howard Megdal.