James Harden of the Houston Rockets and Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder faced off in a battle between two probable MVP candidates on Sunday. Houston walked off with a 137-125 victory in the face of Westbrook’s insane numbers.The one-man wrecking crew had 39 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds in the contest that saw his direct competition for the MVP crown score 22 points, 12 assists and five rebounds in the win.Harden has been campaigning hard for the regular season hardware in the last few weeks while singling out what his competition hasn’t done during their seasons. Whether it’s Westbrook’s team win totals or LeBron James sitting out games for rest.Late in that game, he injured his left wrist after taking a tumble during the course of the game. He’s been wrapping the wrist since and made an effort to beat the Warriors on Tuesday night, but the Rockets fell 113-106.The Beard has been less than spectacular in the three games versus the Warriors this season as his usually stellar production has been stifled by Stephen Curry and his teammates in the Bay Area.

Houston has become a dark horse pick to make it to the Western Conference Finals in recent weeks, but that trend doesn’t bode well for them if their aspirations are to make it all the way to the championship round.

Mike D’Antoni’s entire offense runs around his superstar and his ability to shred defenses on his own while providing for his teammates off the bounce. If the squad were ever put into a position where they had to fend for themselves without their leader, things wouldn’t go well.

This latest wrist issue obviously didn’t help matters this week and now the head coach is suggesting that Harden take some time to rest his scoring hand to get this injury under control before the playoffs open in about a few weeks.

Now the question is, will that possible time off cost the southpaw a chance at the NBA MVP award in a tight race with Westbrook? Every little bit counts as we near the end of the season.

Oklahoma City’s superstar guard will not slow down as he looks to average a triple double over the course of an entire season. That achievement might be enough to tip the voters in his favour regardless of how many wins his team brings home.

Houston will likely stay in the third seed out west and they might not need their engine on offence to get that done.