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James Harden slashes, Stephen Curry crashes, Rockets roll

HOUSTON — In case you didn’t know who finished second in the most-valuable-player vote, James Harden wanted to inform you.

He was the best player Monday, not Stephen Curry, and the Houston Rockets shrugged off possible elimination with a 128-115 victory over Golden State in Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference finals.

Harden had 45 points and the Rockets took a very small step toward becoming the NBA’s first team to win a playoff series after losing the first three games.

At the very least, it put on hold a championship showdown between league MVP Curry and Cleveland’s LeBron James.