5 best games of the 2016-17 NBA season

3. Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Denver Nuggets (Apr. 9)

This was the night that Russell Westbrook won the MVP. Even if he doesn’t officially win it, he’s still the people’s champ. Never was that more evident than when the Nuggets fans chanted MVP once Westbrook officially got his 42nd triple-double of the season to break Oscar Robertson’s long standing record.

But even after he finished triple-double hunting, the Thunder were still down 10. They needed a game to win. Westbrook scored the Thunder’s final 15 points in a four-minute span to take his total to 50 points. He hit a dagger 3-pointer from 36 feet out to single-handedly end the Nuggets’ season. Between Westbrook’s heroics and Damian Lillard’s 59-point game, Nuggets fans had a rough weekend.

If Westbrook doesn’t win MVP, it’ll be proof that voters are too scared to hand it to anyone outside of the top 3. Him scoring his team’s final 15 points should speak volumes about both his impact to the Thunder, and where they’d be without him. And in the end, isn’t that what “most valuable player” is all about?

The Thunder are a lot like last year’s Rockets team in that one player is the difference between them being a playoff team and not. But chances are, Westbrook and Harden are looking ahead to their playoff meeting rather than getting hung up on the MVP race. Even if the Rockets finish off the Thunder in five games, it’ll be the most entertaining five-game series of all time.