TORONTO -- In the opinion of Toronto Raptors All-Star shooting guard DeMar DeRozan, there should be no debate about this season's MVP race. Just hand it to Houston Rockets superstar James Harden.
"He earned it," DeRozan said after Friday's shootaround, hours before the Raptors and Rockets will meet in a clash of the first-place teams from each conference. "The things that he's been doing all year are incredible. I think he's a lock for it. He deserves it."
DeRozan said Harden "should have been MVP last year," when Harden was second in the voting behind Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook, the second runner-up finish of the Rockets star's career.