James Harden on MVP Pace as Houston Rockets Accelerate Toward Postseason.

Last season the Houston Rockets knew that they needed to make a splash. Houston was in that terrible place of being too good to fail but too average to reach the NBA Finals, also known as Baseball Hell. Fortunately, Houston was able to pull off some of the most stunning NBA acquisitions in recent memory when they traded for superstar Chris Paul before surrounding James Harden and Paul with enough complementary players to actually become a challenge out West. Still, the doubters pointed to Golden State and shook their head. Nobody could get past them, right? Well, with only a few weeks left in the regular season it looks like the Rockets not only caught up to Golden State, but they now may be favorites out of the West.

Right now, the Houston Rockets are celebrating a 16-game winning streak that has helped them to soar to the top of the Western Conference. Houston has been almost undefeated with a healthy trio of Capela-Harden-Paul on the court and that should have opposing teams absolutely shaken. Since staying healthy, the Rockets have flipped the switch into one of the most dominant teams in the entire NBA. Houston has put themselves into a position to lock in the #1 seed in the NBA ahead of what could be the most important playoff run in the history of their franchise.

With all of the talk of postseason play going around, it can be easy to forget that James Harden might be the frontrunner for the NBA MVP. Yes, despite the addition of Chris Paul the Houston Rockets remain Harden’s team and his numbers surely show it. On the year, Harden is averaging 31/9/5 while retaining his elite efficiency on a nightly basis. Harden’s astronomical numbers combined with the Houston Rocket’s continued success may be all that he needs to land his first MVP. Harden isn’t one to lob praise on himself, however, and he is quick to praise the guys around him. Harden says, “We’re so good offensively that every single night teams are going to throw different coverages at us.” He went on to say that shooters keep finding their shots and that the just “ride that wave”.

Still, Houston has a long way to go until the NBA Finals and they’ll have to go through one of the most competitive Western Conferences in NBA history in order to get there. Still, the future is looking bright for the Beard and his team.