Don't look now, but the Rockets have won seven of their last eight games and are starting, slowly, to look like the team we all pretty much penciled in to the No. 2 slot in the Western Conference power rankings prior to the season. James Harden posted his seventh straight 30-point game with 41 as Houston outlasted the Thunder 113-109 on Christmas. 

Here are five takeaways from a matchup nobody is going to be complaining about if we get it again come playoff time. 

MVP James Harden hasn't gone anywhere

As we move toward January, and the MVP conversation slowly starts to become more of a focal point across the NBA, you're not going to hear Harden's name among the presumed favorites. Fair enough. The Rockets have been one of the most disappointing teams in the league, but don't point the finger at Harden -- who, as mentioned, notched his seventh straight 30-point game with 41 on Christmas. 

It wasn't the most efficient line for Harden -- 15 of 35 from the field, 5 of 16 from three -- but with Chris Paul out Harden did what he had to do. He really got the Rockets' pace going in the third quarter, and he effectively finished the game with this vintage master act off the bounce to give Houston a two-possession lead with under 20 seconds to play:

For the season, Harden is averaging a league-leading 32.3 points, 8.3 assists and 5.6 rebounds. Compared to his MVP numbers last season, he's up in scoring, basically the same in rebounds and assists and shooting pretty much the same percentages. Again, he won't be mentioned among the early MVP favorites, but if Houston keeps trending upward and ultimately turns its season around, he'll be in the mix by the end. 

The growth of Russell Westbrook

Listen, before we praise Westbrook's decision making so far this season, let's put this in perspective -- he still takes some really dumb shots at really dumb times, and for the most part, you're still playing with fire with the ball in his hands in close games, and really at all times to some degree. But the guy is averaging a triple-double yet again -- which is completely remarkable and yet gets talked about, ridiculously, almost more as a stat-hunting negative -- and his dumb-shot attempts, just to the eye test, are down. 

The first of two examples:

In years past, Westbrook takes that pull-up jumper with the shot clock under 10 almost every time. This time, he notices Steven Adams slide into late, deep post position, passes up the mid-range jumper and instead feeds Adams -- who should be getting All-Star consideration -- for the bucket. That is real growth for Westbrook. It goes against every basketball instinct in his body to defer, and the Thunder, if only in small does, are better for it. 

Here he does it again:

This one is even more impressive because it's late in the game and the Thunder are trailing -- which is usually when Westbrook can't help taking matters into his own hands. Again, he has the pull-up jumper at the top of the circle if he wants it. Instead, he patiently feeds Adams and allows him to make the play, which he does. Westbrook cuts off so many possessions with bad shots, but by allowing this possession to continue, the Thunder end up with a baseline cut and a dunk two passes later. 

Westbrook posted -- ho-hum -- 21 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and four steals vs. Houston. Importantly, he was 2 of 6 from three. He has to keep those long-range attempts down, because he's flat out the worst volume 3-point shooter in the league at less than 25 percent coming into Christmas. He took some questionable ones late, but again, you are going to be playing the good/bad-shot ratio with Westbrook for the most part. Just make the ratio reasonable. If he keeps his attempts down and makes a few to keep defenses honest and not kill multiple possessions, that's a big win given everything else he does. 

He appears to be starting to understand, or perhaps accept is the better word, these little parts of the game are where he's better off, as are the Thunder, when he takes his foot off the gas a bit. It is not a small thing that he's down almost three shot attempts per game this season. It is also no coincidence Paul George is thriving in part because of it. There were possessions against the Rockets where he stood back and let Dennis Schroder initiate the action, and certainly, he's been deferring more to George, who should be in the MVP conversation with the season he's having. 

Side Notes

  • Centers of attention -- Adams, with 17 points and seven boards on 8 of 11 shooting, and Clint Capela, with 16 points and his second straight 23-rebound game, were both terrific. 
  • OKC's potentially fatal flaw -- 3-point shooting -- showed up again. The Thunder went just 9 of 30 (30 percent) from downtown. Take out Paul George's 4 of 9, and it looks even worse. OKC;s defense is spectacular and George, again, is playing like an MVP, but you have to wonder if OKC has the collective shooting to make real noise in the playoffs. 
  • Welcome to Houston, Austin Rivers -- who hit two big-time threes in the closing stretch in his first action as a Rocket.