Harden vs. Westbrook for scoring title (tied with 7 games left)

Wetbrook look at the tie.

He will go on a rampage for the remaining games and win the scoring title.

He will then, when asked if he was trying to outscore Harden, completely deny it.

 

He would be exhausted. It isn't easy to play with the type of usage Westbrook has. Same goes for Kobe and MJ and the one year Stackhouse had an unreal usage rate.

I am not saying that Westbrook SHOULD have that high a usage rate, as I think it ultimately hurts the Thunder, and Westbrook's efficency and defense has taken a nose dive.

 

Harden would probably score right around 30 points with his %'s dipping.

 

Harden will get the scoring title. I'm sure he has a bug in his ear from coaches and morey to go for it.

 

Not even the Sixers would do that. The scoring title is a fun little trophy, not something anyone should be changing their style of play -- or jeopardizing their wins -- to achieve.

I'm happy to let Westbrook have the scoring title. I'd rather Harden focus on securing #2 seed than where he ends up on the scoring list. I don't even think it's much of an accolade anyway, and I tend to look down on scoring leaders for hogging the ball too much.

And, it may actually improve Harden's odds on MVP if Westbrook takes it because voters will be content that Westbrook got some recognition via the scoring title and doesn't need consideration for MVP, making that one a Curry-Harden race.

 

I agree.

 

I see harden having some lower scoring higher assist games over the next few. The Spurs will force the ball out of his hands. Meanwhile Westbrook is still going to jack up 30 shots.

 

Let Curry have the MVP... That will just serve as added motivation for us to get James the Finals MVP. Right now IMO, step 1 is to get the #2 seed. Forget the scoring title and MVP.

 

Or just total points.

 

I remember back when the scoring title was a bigger deal. Not the case anymore

 

The scoring title may go to Westbrook but Harden will have scored the most points by any player and it wouldn't even be close. That's dumb

They should just give the scoring title to the person who has scored the most points as that woudl take into account longevity and # of games played.

Just like they do in football. They give the golden boot to the top goal scorer of a tournament not some stupid goals per game stat.

If two people happen to be tied in # of points scored, then it's fair enough to look at PPG

 

Isnt it awesome that we can even argue about this?!

LONG PLAY JAMES HARDEN!

 

Hell no. He's earned it by every stretch of the imagination, so he deserves it. The NBA playoffs are arduous, and Harden's going to be double- and triple-teamed the entire time. Are we expecting him to be so angry, he overcomes that and scores 60 per game for us? It's too much on one player. It's not fair to James when he's done everything to get us to where we are right now, because the rest of the team could just not show up in the playoffs. Or be injured.

Harden has earned the MVP of this regular season, and if they give it to Curry, they're acknowledging that it's equivalent to the Best Quarterback, err, MVP award of the NFL in terms of how fairly it's judged.

 

Westbrook only had 18 tonight. Did the Beard just retake first?

 

Who cares though? Scoring title nowadays is just like winning the dunk contest...the only personal awards I've seen people get excited about is the MVP and MIP (MVP for role/2nd tier players). Scoring title also comes with the rep of being a ball hog who takes a disproportionate amount of shots on a mediocre team, other than Kevin Durant (who is history breaking with his efficiency) and MJ (ditto), the winners have been Tmac (Orlando days), Melo, Kobe, LBJ (Cleveland days), Iverson etc.

As for WB there was an article I read about him going after the citizen award. That's way more significant than the scoring title IMHO. Big kudos to WB for prioritizing that, and from what I understand he's done a lot to deserve it.

 

Is Westbrook leading harden now? I know he scored 1 point less, but because of his smaller total points, he might move his average more.

 

Yep

WB has played fewer game so his PPG might just go above Harden's

 

Doing it off average and not total points is one of the more stupid things about the NBA

 

27.684 - Harden

27.661 - Westbrook

The disparity in games played makes things interesting. If they both average 30 from here on out, Westbrook wins despite currently being behind. But if Westbrook averages 30 and Harden averages 30.2 (just 1 extra point over 5 games) he wins.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter. But it's fun to watch.