Draymond Green suggests Harden is taken for granted in MVP race

The Warriors have beaten the Rockets in four separate playoff series since 2015, but there seems to be a healthy respect on both sides.

Since the 2014-15 season, the Golden State Warriors have defeated the Houston Rockets in four intense series over various editions of the NBA playoffs. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t mutual respect.

The Warriors (15-50) had the NBA’s worst record this season, due largely to widespread injuries to key players that ravaged the roster. As such, they weren’t among the 22 teams invited to Florida to participate in the league’s summer restart, and veteran forward Draymond Green has helped out TNT’s television crew in recent days with studio analysis.

On Saturday, Green was on set when the league’s three finalists for MVP were announced. That list included James Harden of the Rockets, as well as Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers. While Green said he would pick James as this season’s MVP, he also made a case for Harden being overlooked based on his ability to make extraordinary statistics appear routine.

Here’s the question Green posed to the TNT panel:

Does James Harden get penalized for the numbers that he’s putting up now? Is everybody just used to it and that’s what you expect, and so now no one gives him the credit that he’s deserving? I think I see a little bit of that.

In the clip, TNT’s Kenny Smith appeared receptive to that argument.

Harden has been an MVP finalist in each of the last four seasons. He finished second in 2016-17 and 2018-19, and he won it in 2018-19.

This year, Harden is leading the Rockets and the NBA in scoring at a 34.3 points per game clip, which is just the third time in over 30 years that a player has averaged at least 34 points in a season. (The other two were Harden’s 36.1 last season and Kobe Bryant’s 35.4 in 2005-06.)

Assuming “The Beard” keeps his scoring average above 34 after the four remaining regular-season games, Harden will become just the third player in league history to average at least 34 points in two different seasons, joining Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. Over his eight years to date in Houston, Harden has earned All-Star honors in all of them while leading his Rockets to the playoffs during each season.

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In addition to his historic scoring numbers, Harden ranks eighth in the NBA in assists at 7.5 per game this season. He’s also No. 5 in steals (1.8).

Now 30 years old, Harden is still searching for his first NBA title. Perhaps it’s more doable than ever in 2020, since Green’s Warriors are no longer in the way. Whatever the case, even without a championship ring, it certainly seems that Harden has already earned their respect.

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