Russell Westbrook stretch run explosion shifted MVP momentum squarely in his direction

Apr 9, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) celebrates with teammates after hitting a three point basket to win the game as time expired against the Denver Nuggets Pepsi Center. The Thunder won 106-105. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports /

Russell Westbrook stretch run earmarked by his march into NBA history books and spectacular game winners shifted the MVP momentum squarely in his direction.

This past summer when a certain small forward and former beloved super star took his talents to Oakland many wondered how Russell Westbrook would respond. Most expected a break out campaign, but few foresaw this type of season.

For the majority of the season Westbrook’s name was in the mix as a Most Valuable Player candidate. He joined perennial favorite LeBron James, the best 2-way player in the NBA – Kawhi Leonard and his main competition James Harden who was also posting video game statistics. More often than not Westbrook was placed behind one or more of these candidates (primarily Harden).

Four Become Three:

But, entering the final stages of the regular season the pecking order seemed to have significantly shifted.

Regardless of how the Cavaliers (and LeBron James specifically) are playing this post season let’s not forget the Cavaliers late season swoon. Their 29th ranked post All-Star defense wasn’t going to garner much praise and James was rested plenty down the stretch. Whereas Kawhi Leonard certainly has the goods to warrant the top spot given the Spurs record and his specific role in a post Tim Duncan world.

That said, James Harden has been Westbrook’s main competition all season. Most analysts and pundits had him leading by a fairly wide margin in fact. Yet, the season is comprised of 82 games and the late season wrist injury to Harden and Rockets losses likely played a large role in the final voting.

Comparing the award race to a game may seem silly, but there are reasonable comparisons to be made. Like the four quarters of a game, the season can be similarly split into quarters with approximately 20 games in each. These four segments include season start, dog days of winter, All-Star segment (pre and post break) and the stretch run.

Westbrook Separates Himself From Competition:

To that end, Westbrook was unstoppable coming out of the All-Star break registering 15 of his 42 triple-doubles. In four other games Westbrook came within one or two assists/rebounds of adding to his total. Included in those were a couple of first time triple-double performances, the perfect trip-dub game (perfect from field/free throw line) and highest scoring trip-dub. In addition, he posted his second run of 7 consecutive triple-double games. Again, he came 1 rebound and 2 assists shy of making it ten consecutive trip-dubs. And, he led OKC back from double digit deficits for wins in Dallas, Orlando and Denver. The latter being the game where he broke Oscar Robertson’s record in spectacular fashion.

The record fell in spectacular fashion, late in the third quarter. In a matter of 12 seconds Westbrook grabbed his tenth rebound and assisted on the very next play. The Denver Nuggets crowd cheered Westbrook on, even chanting MVP. Incredibly the Nuggets fans even celebrated the game winning shot.This despite the fact it meant the Nuggets had been eliminated from the playoffs. Clearly Denver fans understood the gravitas of the situation and history making moment they were witness to.

MVP Race Was Won During Stretch Run:

During the same time frame Westbrook’s main competitor (Harden) suffered poor timing injuring his wrist. Despite the injury Harden also registered eight triple-doubles post All-Star Break. But, while Westbrook led his Thunder to spectacular comeback winning efforts going 16-10 the Rockets closed out their season barely breaking .500 with a 12-9 closing record.

More from Thunderous Intentions

Ultimately, Russell Westbrook’s ridiculous accomplishments are enough to garner the award. But, the OKC Thunder’s super star ability to shine when the spotlight was pointed at him likely will lead to him becoming the 2016-17 Most Valuable Player.

There is the possibility Westbrook will lose to James Harden or Kawhi Leonard will win due to vote splitting for the two point guards. Moreover, Harden was the only finalist who received 100 percent of the votes for First Team All-NBA. That fact alone offers fodder to keep the narrative open for Harden to pull out the win.

Although these points make for interesting speculation, the reality is Russell Westbrook earned the award and his stretch run only served to put the cherry on top of the his MVP sundae. Now, it’s just a matter of waiting until June 26 to make it official.

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