Russell Westbrook and James Harden are both leading the NBA MVP conversation at this point in the season.Westbrook is averaging 31.2 points, 10.5 rebounds and 10.2 assists per contest over 34.8 minutes and has led the Thunder to a 31-24 record with virtually no supporting cast.He’s leading the league in scoring and is looking to become the first player since Oscar Robertson in the 1961-1962 season to record a season-long triple-double.Harden is putting up 29.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and is shockingly leading the NBA with 11.3 assists per game while leading the Rockets to a 40-17 record. His game has risen to a new level under the guidance of first-year Houston coach Mike D’Antoni.As you might imagine, both players have sky-high usage rates. Westbrook’s 41.8 mark tops the NBA while Harden’s 34.3 mark ranks third. (DeMarcus Cousins ranks second in that regard)In other words, both Westbrook and Harden are tasked with making their teams click on the offensive end and take on huge roles.As you might imagine, high turnover rates are a result of the constant ball-handling, and Harden (5.9) and Westbrook (5.5) lead the NBA in turnovers per game.But, to take that a step further, they have also both made history in that regard this season.When Westbrook recorded 11 turnovers against the Warriors on Saturday night, he accomplished something that hadn’t been done in 30 seasons.

Five games of 10-plus turnovers is an historically-bad mark. Harden’s four such games are the second-worst mark in that span.

With just under half of the regular season left to go, it remains to be seen how many more of these high-turnover games will occur for either star, but at least a couple more of these performances should be expected.

As of now, the MVP race hasn’t been affected by the turnover history in the making, but down the stretch, it might become an issue for one or both of these star players.