lelz if that is how things will play out, it will mark the end of my rockets fandom. at least until tilllman dies and his children sells the team to an oil sheikh.
How is PG not clear #1 at this point?? OKC is rolling, harden looks somewhat pedestrian on top of the fact that we’re flat out terrible right now. MVP is PG’s to lose but remember we were saying exactly that about Harden just a few short weeks ago.
Recency bias. Harden is still #2 right now. BUT, PG had his "MVP moment." with that shot vs Utah. Team Wins are good for OKC. If they get the #2 seed, that would be big for PG. Harden didn't get it done vs OKC on ABC. And didn't get it done vs LAL on TNT. Has ANOTHER chance vs GSW on ABC. Need to pile up definitive MVP Moments. Those snapshots LAST with voters. All of that said.....Harden is losing to Giannis due to TEAM WINS.
The only reason why PG would win the MVP is because he has much better support around him than Harden does, not because he's been the better player overall. Just look at OKC's game against the Kings for instance; PG played absolutely terrible that game, but he still had major help (Westbrook got 41 points) to make the game competitive. And besides, PG wasn't even in the discussion for MVP till about 12 games back. You can't give the MVP to a player who has only put MVP numbers for like 6 weeks. Who in the Rockets team, besides Harden, can drop 35 points on a consistent bases? The difference being, if PG plays bad, he won't drop those big numbers..... whilst Harden can still play bad and still drop 35 points.
PG??? Giannis is putting up a top 20 season ALL-TIME this year, with the best record in the NBA to boot. .290 WS/48 surpasses Harden's 2018 season! You can make an argument for Harden, who leads the league in BPM and VORP while Giannis leads it in WS and WS/48, on top of being the best defensive player in the NBA. PG doesn't lead in any significant category (aside from total steals, even then CP3 has him beat in steals per game) and his MVP "campaign" is a prolonged hot streak. Unrelated, but while searching for the best age 24 seasons of all time, I stumbled across LeBron's first MVP, but what he did for the 4 years afterwards is insane. From 2008-09 to 2012-13, LeBron averaged .296 WS/48. For 5 years, he averaged a better season than CP3's best season (.294), KD's best season (.295), Giannis' best season (.290), Harden's best season (.289), and tied with David Robinson's best season (.296). For five years straight.
So much this - the MVP voters will have a "what have you done for me lately?" bias in their minds when voting. You could see the MVP narrative shift towards LeBron (mostly coming from him) at the end of last season.
If Harden doesn't get it, I just don't understand why. He's pretty much never played in a healthy Rockets team all season. He has had 32 games in a row of 30 points or more. He's had countless 40 and 50 point games. He's had a game with 61 points. He's still averaging close to 8 assists a game. He's still 3rd in steals. He's been pretty efficient, despite shooting most of his shots off his own dribbling and plays. Oh, and he's averaging 36.5 points a game.
Harden looks pedestrian right now??????? WTF are you talking about???? He’s literally breaking all time records. Our second and third best players have missed a combined 37 ish games almost two thirds of the season and were still right in the hunt home court advantage in the playoffs. You guys are on crack. This isn’t even close. If harden doesn’t win no one will ever take this award seriously again.
this is harden's last chance at an mvp because zion will win it next year and for the next decade probably.