So that established pattern I mentioned: With very rare exceptions, NBA MVP goes to the clearly established team MVP with the most wins. The same is true for Westbrook, but the two candidates' supporting casts are much more evenly matched than Butler is admitting. And of course, on the other side, you have one of the most exciting backcourts in the league in John Wall and Bradley Beal. The Rockets are going to have to crash the glass against this team and it is going to take all five guys on the floor to do it.
If the Rockets surpass the Thunder, they could face the Spurs or Clippers. His luck at stopping/frustrating Russ will go a long way in this series.
The triple-double average, single-season record for triple-doubles, and endorsements from Oscar Robertson are secondary to what Westbrook accomplished by elevating this version of the Thunder out of some pretty dark places with regularity.
He did all he could during this MVP campaign where he led the league in assists, became the first man in league history to score 2,000 points, grab 600 rebounds and have 900 assists in a season, and finished one point shy of tying the league mark for points scored or assisted on with 4,538. He raised his average by 6.9 points, while increasing his field goal, 3-point and foul shooting percentages by almost 4 percent each. But there's a reason why James doesn't win MVP and Gregg Popovich doesn't earn Coach of the Year every season - they're season awards, not generational honours. Robertson congratulated Westbrook, and at the end of a short speech, he got the crowd fired up with an endorsement. It's filled with well-rounded players like Victor Oladipo, Steven Adams and Taj Gibson, but not everyone the Rockets will see over the next couple of weeks fits that bill.
Shannon Sharpe: You take Harden off Houston, what are they?
The first round stage is now officially set, and Thunder/Rockets has a full four-game schedule to plan on. Harden will be tasked with defending Roberson, allowing him to save a little energy and roam a bit to hunt for turnovers. Harden's teammates have higher player efficiency rating (PER) for the most part than Westbrook's teammates, and Harden has sixty-four more assists than Westbrook this season. I have been rifling through NBA record books, and it looks like, since the implementation of the 82-game regular season, no one on a team with as few wins as the 2016-2017 Oklahoma City Thunder has ever won the NBA MVP.
Sri Lanka rubbish dump landslide kills six, engulfs dozens of houses
Sri Lanka's parliament was warned recently that the 23 million tonnes of garbage rotting at Kolonnawa was a serious health hazard. About 800 tons of solid waste is added daily to the open dump, angering residents who live nearby.
Besides the fact that he has averaged a triple double for the entire year and made National Basketball Association history along the way, Westbrook is vital to Oklahoma City being able to thrive in a tightly competitive Western Conference. His assists generate 27.3 points per game, higher than anyone else in the league by two full points.
Washington visited Atlanta in Game 1 for both teams back in October, and Atlanta will visit Washington for Game 1 of their playoff series Sunday. Sure, some of those losses have come on the road against a 1-seed, but not all of them.
A triumph over Minnesota would enable these Rockets to match the 1992-93 and 2007-08 teams for the fourth-most victories in franchise history. Oklahoma City finished the season 28-13 at home and just 19-22 on the road.
Now some of you might be wondering, is there a sixth key? James and the Cavs will not be bothered by this, as they are relatively a lock to appear in the NBA Finals which would be Lebron's seventh straight Finals appearance.
To simplify things, the Beard created more points this season than anyone else in history, and did so while shooting the ball more accurately than the next guy in line to the tune of 10 percentage points.
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