Harden wins Sixth Man of the Year, Sixers' Williams is 2nd

PHILADELPHIA - Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden has been selected as the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year, with the Sixers' Lou Williams finishing as the runner-up.

Harden, who led all NBA reserves in scoring with 16.8 points per game, came off the bench in 60 of his 62 appearances this season and helped the Thunder finish with the NBA's third-best record at 47-19.

Harden received 584 of a possible 595 points, including 115 of a possible 119 first-place votes from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Philadelphia's Williams, who led the 76ers in scoring (14.9 ppg) despite not starting a single game, finished second in the voting with 231 points and Thaddeus Young of the Sixers finished in ninth place with 10 votes.

The award was first presented to Sixers forward Bobby Jones in 1982-83. Aaron McKie, currently an assistant coach under Doug Collins, was the only other Philadelphia player in history to win the award in 2000-01.