Making the Case for NBA MVP: James Harden, Iceman

The 2016-17 season is the closest MVP race in modern NBA history. It's March, and there are four contenders with legitimate claims to the award. This week, VICE Sports is going to make the case for each one. You can find more here.

Well, this is awkward. A day after making a pretty strong case for Kawhi Leonard as MVP, his go-ahead three-pointer and block-from-behind on James Harden has more than a few people wondering if a seven-second fragment of the fourth quarter in an early March game has just catapulted him past Harden in the MVP discussion. Never mind that Harden had more than double the number of dimes as Leonard on Monday night, the same number of points (39), and the more impressive 63 games preceding Monday night's contest.

Despite the impulsive way fans and the media now talk about award season (woe is the player who shines before the All-Star break), Harden keeps on playing like Iceman from Top Gun: "Ice cold, no mistakes." It's why he's one of two MVP front-runners as we come up on the stretch run of the season.

Top Gun's Goose could have been talking about the Rockets point guard when he was describing Val Kilmer's hilarious turn as a fighter pilot: "He wears you down and you get bored and frustrated. You do something stupid, and he's got you." There might not be a more perfect metaphor for Harden's offensive game.

What's more, Harden finally has the copilots around him that Daryl Morey should have put in place the moment he hoodwinked Sam Presti to acquire him from the cap-concerned Oklahoma City Thunder over five years ago. The Beard has so many shooters to pick from along the arc, there isn't a team in the Association the Rockets don't have the firepower to shoot down. But it's Harden who makes the engines run and puts the planes in formation.

The fans who extol the pugnacious tenacity of Russell Westbrook and the bewitching allure of Steph Curry's hand-eye coordination see James as a robot of the analytics revolution: He has never met a three he wouldn't fire, and the defender extending his hand is the frustrated fighter pilot who did something stupid, raking Harden's forearms to send him to the charity stripe yet again.

With this year's team, Harden can focus on what he does best: control the ball at the top of the key and run pick and rolls until the opposing team falls into his trap. Maybe it's the monotony of the attack that lulls the defense to sleep, or the decelerating genius of Harden. Despite everyone in the arena knowing Houston's going to spread the floor with a high screen, James still manages to find Clint Capela for alley-oops, Ryan Anderson for wide-open threes on the pick-and-pop, and Trevor Ariza alone in the corner on skip passs when the weak side man rotates over. Or, he just gets layups. This is the brilliance of Harden in the Mike D'Antoni system.

Right now, Harden is first in the NBA in assists per game, win shares, and minutes played for a Rockets team that has the third best record in the NBA. He's also third in points per game and in player efficiency rating (PER). Although guarding opponents is still not his strong suit, did you know Harden also is tied with former DPOY Marc Gasol in Defensive Win Shares?

Probably not, but that's not all. Since the 1983-84 season, there have only been three recorded triple-doubles where a player also dropped 50-something points. Harden has two of those three this season. Yes, Russ is the other one on that list, but keep few things to keep in mind when comparing Westbrook's historical triple-double campaign with Harden's near triple-double averages (29.0 points, 11.3 assists, and 7.9 rebounds per game).

One, the Rockets have a substantially better record (8.5 games ahead) with Harden at the helm. Two, Houston is No. 2 in offensive rating this season with James as their maestro. Oklahoma City under Westbrook? No. 22, per NBA.com. Three, James is creating his own points at a more efficient clip: He has a 62.0 true shooting percentage, whereas Russ is below the league average at 54.6.

Plus, let's not forget: Westbrook might be just as dangerous as Maverick, but it was Ice Man who actually won Top Gun.

All stats are as of Tuesday and courtesy Basketball-Reference, unless otherwise noted.