Week 9 NBA MVP race: Harden holds steady, Westbrook right behind

USA TODAY Sports' top five candidates for the 2016-17 NBA MVP award (From Tuesday, Dec. 27 through Sunday, Jan. 1)

Note: Week shortened due to the holidays. 

Also receiving votes: Anthony Davis, Isaiah Thomas

5. Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs

Something unusual happened in Leonard's most recent game - he blew a game-winning layup. This was definitely an aberration. Leonard is shooting 46.6% from the floor, averaging 24 points per game and is a big reason the Spurs are once again one of the top teams in the NBA — just behind the Golden State Warriors for best overall record and on pace to reach 65 wins for the second straight season.

4. Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors

Remember when some people thought bringing in Durant might mess up the chemistry for the Warriors? No, we don't either. Durant and the Warriors are cruising along — he with 25.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game and they with the best record in the league. He's also putting up a career-high in blocks at 1.6 per and a career-low in turnovers at 2.3. Everything seems to be working in Oakland.

3. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers

Just when you thought you'd seen the best James can give you, he puts up the best assist numbers of his career with 8.7 per game and is hitting the best percentage of his three-point shots (38.4%) since the 2012-13 season. He, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love are playing the best ball ever as a trio. The Cavs are 12-2 in their past 14 games and the two losses came in games James didn't play.

2. Russell Westbrook, OKC Thunder

The triple-double machine just keeps rolling. In 19 minutes in the first half against the Clippers on Saturday, Westbrook got his 16th of the season. He's still leading the league with his 30.9 points per game to go along with 10.7 assists and 10.5 rebounds, and he has those numbers despite grabbing just five rebounds and zero assists in a loss to Memphis on Dec. 29. Mark down those lows, because you probably won't see them again.

1. James Harden, Houston Rockets

There are triple doubles, then there are the crazy numbers Harden put up on New Year's Eve against the New York Knicks. He had 53 points, 17 assists and 16 rebounds, which made him the first player in NBA history to record at least 50 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists in a single game. Harden has eight triple-doubles for the season and that one against the Knicks was his second consecutive. It's almost as if Harden and Westbrook are playing a season-long one-up duel. The best part? The Thunder and Rockets play Thursday in Houston.

List of voters: USA TODAY Sports' Jeff Zillgitt, Sam Amick, Kevin Spain, AJ Neuharth-Keusch and Michael Singer; The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal's Ronald Tillery; Detroit Free Press' Vince Ellis; Indianapolis Star's Nate Taylor; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Charles Gardner; The (Bergen) Record's Steve Popper; HoopsHype.com's Jorge Sierra and Raul Barrigon; USA TODAY Sports Weekly's Howard Megdal.