NBA MVP 2015: Key Stats for Prestigious Award's Top Contenders

Even though the NBA postseason has just started, it's been made clear through the few games played that the top two contenders for this year's MVP award are operating on another level from the rest of the field. 

Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry put together one of the most spectacular moments of these playoffs, draining a last-second three-pointer with two guys in his face while getting knocked to the ground to send Golden State's game into overtime after it trailed by 20 at the start of the fourth quarter.

Oh, Curry also finished that Game 3 win over the New Orleans Pelicans with 40 points, nine assists and five rebounds. It wasn't his best shooting effort overall, hitting 10 of 29 attempts, but when the Warriors needed him, the All-Star came through.

James Harden has continued to quietly do his thing for Houston. The Beard scored 42 points in the Rockets' 130-128 Game 3 win over Dallas and for good measure grabbed nine rebounds while dishing out five assists.

MVP voting only encompasses the regular season, but it's clear that Curry and Harden have carried over their stellar efforts into the postseason. As fans prepare for the winner to be announced soon, here are the key numbers for the top contenders.

Stephen Curry: 63.8 Percent True Shooting

Using ESPN.com's Hollinger stats, Curry's true shooting percentage this season was a stellar 63.8. That number tied DeAndre Jordan for fifth best in the NBA, but there's a distinction that separates Curry's total from most of the contenders ahead of him.

With the exception of Atlanta's Kyle Korver, who led the league with a 69.9 true shooting percentage, and New Orleans' bench player Luke Babbitt (63.9), the other players ahead of Curry live close to the basket (Jordan, Tyson Chandler and Brandan Wright).

Adding to Curry's impressive true shooting percentage is his position. Golden State's offense runs through the dynamic 27-year-old point guard. He attempted 1,341 shots this season, 741 more than Korver did, yet still ranks as highly as he does in true shooting percentage.

Among Curry's fellow MVP candidates, Harden is 17th in true shooting percentage (60.5), and Anthony Davis is tied for 32nd (59.1).

Per Basketball-Reference.com, Curry ranked second in effective field-goal percentage (59.4), which is an adjusted measure of field-goal percentage that takes into account the fact that three-point attempts are more valuable than standard field goals.

Using these two stats, in terms of converting shots into points, no one was better, based on the volume of attempts in 2014-15, than Curry was. He doesn't need the narrative of being the best player on the team that won the most games to win the MVP.

James Harden: 16.4 Win Shares

There are various metrics used to determine how effective a player was, but since value is so often tied to victories, what better way is there to make Harden's case than through win shares?

Per Basketball-Reference.com's calculation, Harden led the NBA with 16.4 win shares during the regular season. Curry wasn't far behind, with 15.7 win shares, though he did rank ahead of Harden in win shares per 48 minutes (.288 to .265).

That speaks volumes about how close Harden and Curry are in the MVP race. Yet let's put Harden's 16.4 win shares in the context of the team around him.

Houston's superstar helped lead the team to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference with no one else on the roster adding more than 6.6 win shares. Injuries ravaged the rest of the roster, which was part of why Chris Sheridan of Sheridan Hoops picked Harden over Curry for MVP:

He ended the season with a triple-double, led the league in 30-point games, finished second in the scoring race and led his team to the No. 2 seed in the West despite long injury absences by Dwight Howard, Patrick Beverley, Terrence Jones and Donatas Montiejunas. He did it from Day One, he never let up, and he brought more “value” to his team than any other player in the NBA.

Injuries are only a small part of the narrative around the MVP candidate, but it's not an unimportant or irrelevant aspect. Harden had to do more for Houston to succeed this season; he did, and the team benefited from that effort with 56 wins.

The things Harden does are unique. He's not an elite shooter, making 44 percent of his attempts in the regular season, but his ability to draw fouls is valuable. He made more free throws (715) than any other player attempted (654, Russell Westbrook).

Those free throws wouldn't mean much if Harden shot them like Andre Drummond, but he made 86.8 percent of those attempts.

Using some narrative elements, like team injuries and expectations, combined with Harden's ability to score in unique and varied ways, he's certainly a worthy MVP candidate who wouldn't look bad with a trophy on his mantle.

Anthony Davis: 30.89 Player Efficiency Rating

Davis had a historic season for the Pelicans. The 22-year-old led the NBA with a 30.81 player efficiency rating, nearly two full points ahead of Westbrook at No. 2 (29.06).

To illustrate how impressive Davis' PER was this season, according to Basketball-Reference.com, it ranks 11th of all time behind seasons from Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan and LeBron James. When any player is doing something that invokes those three names, something is going right.

Davis got to that mark by averaging 24.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game this season. He led the league in blocks per game and total blocks (200) despite missing 14 games. He's not as versatile as his fellow MVP candidates, but his ability to shoot and dominate on defense is incredible.

Going to the narrative well, Davis put up his numbers for a New Orleans team that has decent talent around him. Tyreke Evans and Eric Gordon are quality NBA players, but Davis didn't have anyone around him nearly as good as Klay Thompson or Draymond Green or Dwight Howard.

Yet even with the lack of talent in New Orleans, Davis got the Pelicans into the playoffs in a loaded Western Conference. It's easy to say that about a lot of players, but the Brow can actually make that claim thanks to this shot against Oklahoma City in February:

The Pelicans finished with the same record as Oklahoma City in the regular season (45-37) but got into the postseason by virtue of winning the season series against the Thunder 3-1. Davis' shot was the dagger in the Thunder's heart, even if no one knew it at the time.

Davis' only significant knock is time missed. He was forced to sit out 14 games due to injuries. Harden and Curry missed three games combined. That should be taken into consideration and held against Davis in MVP voting.

But everything else suggests that Davis warrants at least a few first-place MVP votes, even if he's not going to win the award.