Oddsmakers see MVP race as 4-man battle: Curry, Harden, James, Westbrook

With apologies to Anthony Davis and Chris Paul, the NBA's MVP race is down to four names.

Or so say the oddsmakers at Bovada, who are no longer listing any candidates beyond the perceived top four contenders. Steph Curry and James Harden are the names being debated most publicly - by their own organizations, no less - Russell Westbrook's insane February has vaulted him into the conversation and LeBron James remains LeBron James.

It's a crazy race between those four, and it speaks to how unbelievable each has played that Paul can't even get long odds despite having yet another top-five season. Always a runner up, that guy - he's placed in the top-seven in MVP votes on five occasions but has never won the award.

Curry and Harden remain a one-two punch, in that order, as the favorites, but as the percentage of games Westbrook and James have missed becomes smaller, their cases grow stronger. The odds for each and their performance to date are as follows:

• Steph Curry (1/2): 23.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 7.8 assists, 2.1 steals, 28.0 PER, 62.9 TS%, 11.3 win shares (2nd), 13.3 wins above replacement (2nd), 57 games (GSW 46-12)
• James Harden (3/1): 27.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 1.9 steals, 27.0 PER, 60.9 TS%, 12.3 win shares (1st), 13.7 wins above replacement (1st), 59 games (HOU 41-18)
• LeBron James (15/4): 26.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.6 steals, 25.8 PER, 57.8 TS%, 7.0 win shares (15th), 10.1 wins above replacement (5th), 50 games (CLE 37-24)
• Russell Westbrook (9/2): 26.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 8.1 assists, 2.0 steals, 29.3 PER, 53.5 TS%, 7.2 win shares (12th), 9.3 wins above replacement (7th), 45 games (OKC 33-27)
• Chris Paul (off): 18.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 10.0 assists, 1.8 steals,, 25.1 PER, 58.3 TS%, 11.1 win shares (3rd), 10.5 wins above replacement (3rd), 61 games (LAC 40-21)
• Anthony Davis (off): 23.9 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 2.7 blocks, 31.2 PER, 60.3 TS%, 9.9 win shares (4th), 9.2 wins above replacement (8th), 48 games (NO 32-28)

Win shares courtesy Basketball Reference; Wins above replacement courtesy ESPN's Real Plus-Minus