Between LeBron James, Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo, the league’s leading scorers have been locked in a battle for the scoring crown, separated by less than 0.5 points per game, meaning the scoring title had been essentially anyone’s to win.
MORE: Is LeBron James the greatest scorer of all-time?
As such, the player that holds the title of the league’s leading scorer can change on a nightly basis, with the title likely not getting decided until the final night of the regular season, which falls on Sunday, April 10.
With James being ruled out for the season, it’s now down to Antetokounmpo and Embiid to fight it out.
From now until the end of the season, we’ve got you covered with nightly updates on the race to the 2021-22 scoring title, as well as some historical context to put this year’s race into perspective.
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2021-22 NBA scoring leaders
Can Kevin Durant win the 2021-22 NBA scoring title?
TSN’s Scott Rafferty outlined Durant’s unique circumstance: “Durant is operating under different rules than James, Embiid and Antetokounmpo because he’s not going to appear in 58 games (70 percent of his team’s games), which is the minimum to qualify for the league leaders.”
As detailed by the NBA, the only exception to the above rule is if “the player would have led the league in the category had he played the required number of games with his current category total.”
Simply put, Durant could still win the scoring title if his total points for the 2021-22 season divided by 58 equal out to an average higher than that of James, Embiid and Antetokounmpo.
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Remaining schedules
Joel Embiid, 76ers remaining schedule
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks remaining schedule
Closest scoring title races in NBA history
Over the NBA’s 75-year history, the scoring title has been decided by fewer than 0. 5 points just six times. Shaquille O’Neal was the runner-up in half of those instances. Two of the most notable races for the scoring title involve the Spurs. On the final night of the 1993-94 season, David Robinson clinched the scoring title by scoring a career-best 71 points against the Clippers while Shaquille O’Neal scored 32 against the Nets. Robinson edged O’Neal by . 44 points per game for the scoring title. While David Thompson scored 73 points on the final night of the 1977-78 regular season, George Gervin was able to maintain distance by scoring 63 points in the regular-season finale to win the scoring title by . 07 points per game.
