MVP slipping away from Harden.

[Connor B]

Tonight's loss on National Television hurt him on top of the fact that he didn't play very well, and while Curry didn't play well in his own game, the Warriors won and improve to 51 as the best team in the league. I really think Curry deserves it more, he shouldn't be punished for having better teammates, he should be rewarded for elevating a good roster to a possible all-time-great-team status.

[ButterFace]

Curry has been pulling away most of the season. Harden made a little run, but has slipped.

[UK2K]

Harden's wearing down.

His back must be killing him. Guess he's human after all.

[oarabbus]

Harden's wearing down.

His back must be killing him. Guess he's human after all.

You guys might wanna rest him up for playoffs. Yeah you might slip to 6th or 7th worst case scenario but it's better than beard having a strained back against the Clippers as it is now.

[RoseCity07]

Seeing Curry have these bad games and Golden State still wins I'm not so sure. I think Lebron is the one guy that really deserves it. All these other teams want it just so they can gloat with no care that the award went to the wrong guy.

Lebron is more valuable to Cleveland than any one player is to their team. Cleveland went from the lottery to a Finals contender by adding Lebron. Warriors would still be a playoff team without Curry.

[navy]

Curry has the narrative set. The new pretty face of the nba.

Would take a monster performance from Harden to take MVP away from him.

[yobore]

Tonight was really bad for Westbrook and Curry too so he didn't really lose ground on anyone but Lebron

[J Shuttlesworth]

Seeing Curry have these bad games and Golden State still wins I'm not so sure. I think Lebron is the one guy that really deserves it. All these other teams want it just so they can gloat with no care that the award went to the wrong guy.

Lebron is more valuable to Cleveland than any one player is to their team. Cleveland went from the lottery to a Finals contender by adding Lebron. Warriors would still be a playoff team without Curry.

I do agree with this but I'd have Harden as the MVP. LBJ is the best player in the league, but Harden is the season MVP in my book. LeBron would be the leader in MVP if he was healthy all season and didn't have to miss that two week stretch

This game "being on national TV" doesn't change anything. A game is a game. Swap Harden with Curry and I think the Warriors have about the same record, but the Rockets get worse. Harden would also probably have 8+ assists per game if he was playing with the Warriors lineup.

I'm sorry but I just don't see Curry on the Rockets leading them to a 3rd/4th seed.

[JerrySeinfeld]

I do agree with this but I'd have Harden as the MVP. LBJ is the best player in the league, but Harden is the season MVP in my book. LeBron would be the leader in MVP if he was healthy all season and didn't have to miss that two week stretch

This game "being on national TV" doesn't change anything. A game is a game. Swap Harden with Curry and I think the Warriors have about the same record, but the Rockets get worse. Harden would also probably have 8+ assists per game if he was playing with the Warriors lineup.

I'm sorry but I just don't see Curry on the Rockets leading them to a 3rd/4th seed.

don't see how anyone in the east could win the mvp, and that includes lebron.

[J Shuttlesworth]

don't see how anyone in the east could win the mvp, and that includes lebron.

well 6 out of the last 7 MVPs have been players in the East, and rightfully so. Christ, you're off the rocker with the East/West thing.

Although it's quite irrelevant since I picked Harden as the MVP. Not sure what you're trying to get at

[Milbuck]

I do agree with this but I'd have Harden as the MVP. LBJ is the best player in the league, but Harden is the season MVP in my book. LeBron would be the leader in MVP if he was healthy all season and didn't have to miss that two week stretch

This game "being on national TV" doesn't change anything. A game is a game. Swap Harden with Curry and I think the Warriors have about the same record, but the Rockets get worse. Harden would also probably have 8+ assists per game if he was playing with the Warriors lineup.

I'm sorry but I just don't see Curry on the Rockets leading them to a 3rd/4th seed.

What possible reasoning do you have for this? Curry is a better shooter on a team that rains 3s. Curry is a better passer on a team that relies on its first option setting people up. Curry is a better defender on a team that plays great team defense..not that either of them are really difference makers there. Curry is basically a more skilled, PG version of Harden minus the bullshit foul-relying tactics.

There is absolutely nothing to suggest that Curry couldn't replicate what Harden is doing. And there's nothing to suggest that ball-dominant Harden could fit in with GS's offense. Curry is so valuable because he can dominate a game with the ball or without it. Curry could easily put up ridiculous numbers like Harden, he doesn't because he has that Dirk effect about him that just cannot be quantified. Warriors would be even better if Curry just said '**** it', went out and played 38-40 mpg of intense basketball all the time. He doesn't do it because he takes his team to another level in the minutes when he's playing, and isn't required to play balls to the ball all the time.

[bdreason]

If Rockets can hold a top 4 seed out West, Harden deserves the MVP.

[J Shuttlesworth]

What possible reasoning do you have for this? Curry is a better shooter on a team that rains 3s. Curry is a better passer on a team that relies on its first option setting people up. Curry is a better defender on a team that plays great team defense..not that either of them are really difference makers there. Curry is basically a more skilled, PG version of Harden minus the bullshit foul-relying tactics.

Yeah I'm not counting getting to the foul line against Harden as if it's a negative. We're talking about 27/6/7 vs. 24/4/8. Harden has statistical advantage outside of efficiency and even there, it's close. Harden draws as much attention on defense as Steph does, if not more. He's also been a solid play maker. He doesn't have somebody as good as Klay Thompson to set up, or create their own shots. His APG would be higher when he can set up Klay/Bogut/Lee/etc. I can't see how Harden would prevent the Rockets from being the #1 offense in the league.

There is absolutely nothing to suggest that Curry couldn't replicate what Harden is doing. And there's nothing to suggest that ball-dominant Harden could fit in with GS's offense. Curry is so valuable because he can dominate a game with the ball or without it. Curry could easily put up ridiculous numbers like Harden, he doesn't because he has that Dirk effect about him that just cannot be quantified. Warriors would be even better if Curry just said '**** it', went out and played 38-40 mpg of intense basketball all the time. He doesn't do it because he takes his team to another level in the minutes when he's playing, and isn't required to play balls to the ball all the time.

Harden is only a 2% higher usage rate than Curry, and it would obviously be lower playing with more offensive options. We always prop up Harden's cast for playing a great defense, but their defense isn't as good as Golden State.

oh and btw, Harden has had some great games where he didn't shoot a ton. He's had many low scoring games where he dominated with his playmaking. He has a ton of double digit assist games this year and don't act like that wouldn't be magnified with a squad that is better offensively and defensively like the Warriors.

[Milbuck]

Yeah I'm not counting getting to the foul line against Harden as if it's a negative. We're talking about 27/6/7 vs. 24/4/8. Harden has statistical advantage outside of efficiency and even there, it's close. Harden draws as much attention on defense as Steph does, if not more. He's also been a solid play maker. He doesn't have somebody as good as Klay Thompson to set up, or create their own shots. His APG would be higher when he can set up Klay/Bogut/Lee/etc. I can't see how Harden would prevent the Rockets from being the #1 offense in the league.

Again you're using raw stats to downplay Steph..but raw stats do not do Steph justice. He doesn't play as many minutes because he doesn't have to...his impact puts his team so far above the opposing team most of the time he ends up not having to play huge minutes. People have warped this into the notion that he's just another piece on a historically stacked team...when in reality he's the force driving that team. There's no denying the Warriors are talented as hell but Steph's impact is HUGE.

Per 36 Curry is at 26/5/8 on 63% TS vs Harden's 27/6/7 on 61% TS on ~36 mpg. The difference in production is pretty much negligible.

And I totally disagree with Harden drawing more attention than Steph. Harden is a great shooter...Curry is the best shooter of all time. Defenses are distorted way more with Curry wreaking havoc from the perimeter than Harden. Harden's got the ability to collapse defenses by driving but Curry has the advantage of being a ridiculous off-ball player as well, which maximizes his team in a different and better way.

Harden is only a 2% higher usage rate than Curry, and it would obviously be lower playing with more offensive options. We always prop up Harden's cast for playing a great defense, but their defense isn't as good as Golden State.

oh and btw, Harden has had some great games where he didn't shoot a ton. He's had many low scoring games where he dominated with his playmaking. He has a ton of double digit assist games this year and don't act like that wouldn't be magnified with a squad that is better offensively and defensively like the Warriors.

No one is saying Harden isn't a great player. I'm saying Curry is just better at it.

And the point about the supporting casts is that all it does is speak to the level of help they have, not their actual performance itself. Curry having a more talented team doesn't somehow make him a worse player than Harden. If they were winning at the same level, then it matters. But Harden's team is widely accepted as a middle-tier playoff team in the West, while GS is widely accepted as a top 2 team and probably the favorites to win it all, dominating team category after team category in team stats. The difference in supporting talent is matched by the difference in results. It's not like Harden is carryon the Rockets to the same record, the same statistical team dominance, etc.

[RoundMoundOfReb]

LeBron is #1 right now. Or close to it.