Another Big Win, Russell For MVP?
By Addam Francisco
The Oklahoma City Thunder played yet another close game Wednesday night. This time it was the Philadelphia 76ers giving OKC a hard time by forcing them to overtime before the Thunder finally pulled out a 123-118 win.
Russell Westbrook has been leading this team for the past month and nothing has changed in his first game of March after having facial surgery. This game, he recorded his fourth straight triple-double, second to only one player by the name of Michael Jordan who had seven straight in 1989. Tonight he recorded a career high in points with 49, a career high in rebounds with 16 and also added 10 assists to his stat line.
The fans in the Chesapeake Energy Arena chanted the famous, "M-V-P" chant as Westbrook went to the free throw line multiple times in the fourth quarter and overtime. Also, many people are taking notice of what he's doing and are also jumping on the "Westbrook for MVP," train. This is something I definitely agree on. I believe the MVP is the player that's had the biggest impact on thier team, and shown up the most for his team. That points right towards Russell. What other player in the NBA is doing what he's doing? Especially with all the obstacles he's had to cross this year. Injury after injury, distraction after distraction. He's played about two-thirds of the season and he's done more than any other player has done all year long. This needs to be noticed and even though the Thunder are currently eighth in the Western Conference, that should not be the leading reason why Westbrook shouldn't win MVP.
The other MVP contenders are Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, former Thunder player James Harden of the Houston Rockets, and Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Westbrook is currently leading the league in scoring(27.0), fifth in the league for assists(8.1) and second in steals (2.04). Curry is the only one of the MVP contenders that leads him in anything and that's in steals per game(2.12). However, there's still criticism of Westbrook because OKC is eighth in the conference. I'm not sure how team injuries are in Russell's control but it is obvious that he's gone above and beyond for what he's been given this year. When he's healthy, the Thunder have the third best record in the NBA. Do not get me wrong, I'm not saying he should win the MVP over Harden or Curry (just yet) but he should definitely be in the talk. There's still plenty of time for him to make his case with 21 games left in the season, but with his competitive attitude, I'm sure he's just worried about his team making it to the playoffs and making a run towards the championship.