HARDEN

In any other season, Harden would appear to be a lock for MVP. He battled into the final days of the season with Russell Westbrook for the scoring title, losing out to his former teammates in the end 28.1 to 27.4. But Harden's work leading the Rockets to a 56-win season, Southwest Division title and the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs in his best season as a pro, is the sort of resume that screams MVP. The fact that he did the bulk of his work this season without the Rockets' second best player, Dwight Howard, in uniform for basically half of the season must also be factored into the equation. In fact, it could be argued that no elite player carried a heavier burden this season than Harden did in driving the Rockets to the top of the standings, given all of the injury issues up and down the roster. Harden posted career highs in points, assists (7.0), rebounds (5.7), steals (1.9) and turnovers (4.0). He shot a wicked 87 percent from the free throw line, also a career-best, while leading the league in attempts at 10.2 per game. He concluded his case with his fourth triple-double of the season in the Rockets' finale, a blowout win over the Utah Jazz that secured that No. 2 seed, showing off the versatility and value you'd expect from the best shooting guard in the game.
source:http://www.nba.com/2015/news/features/sekou_smith/04/17/kia-race-to-the-mvp-ladder-stephen-curry-our-pick-for-2014-15-mvp/index.html