When the NBA names the 2016-17 MVP, a game from early January could loom large for James Harden and Russell Westbrook.
After all, the Houston Rockets' 118-116 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday was a triple-double away from serving as a microcosm of the race for the league's biggest individual award.
Houston's bearded point guard struggled with turnovers but finished with an efficient 26 points, eight rebounds and 12 assists. That line doesn't even include the brilliant play he made with the game on the line, pulling in multiple defenders during the final seconds and then slipping the ball to Nene, who drew a foul and took the lead at the stripe:
It does, however, include this beauty of a three-pointer:
Westbrook matched him step for step.
The dynamic floor general was a terror, recording 49 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals while shooting 16-of-34 from the field and making a career-high eight triples, which you can see below:
His vision was also on display, most notably when he st ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Adam Fromal
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