Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid both have scored the same number of points while having played the same number of games this season
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The NBA season this year has been quite thrilling. As we approach the end of the regular season, there are a lot of things on the line. The scoring title, the MVP honors, the DPOY award, and more hang in the balance.
This season, it’s a race between Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic once again for the MVP award. After Nikola Jokic won it last season, he looks like the favorite to take it back for the second straight time.
As for the DPOY honors, Giannis Antetokounmpo has been leading the race. Rudy Gobert is following closely for the 2nd spot. The Jazz and their recent form may be one reason why Rudy might fall behind.
However, the scoring title has had no favorites, with it being a close contest all around.
Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo have the same points, but LeBron James leads the scoring title race
Till mid-January, the MVP and the scoring title had one clear favorite – Kevin Durant. However, since he got injured, both categories got wide-open. Giannis and Embiid quickly started rising up on the scoring list and were neck-to-neck for the longest time. However, that was before LeBron James decided to rise up on the list. He leads the scoring with 30.1 PPG in his 19th season.
Despite leading the league in total points scored, both Giannis and Joel are tied for the 2nd spot in scoring, at 29.8 PPG. After the two battled tonight, their points and game-played totals are now tied.
Fun fact — Giannis and Embiid are averaging identical PPG.
Giannis: 1,853 points in 62 games
Embiid: 1,853 points in 62 games pic.twitter.com/mxB41fYsK7— StatMuse (@statmuse) March 30, 2022
Originally, the scoring title used to be decided by the total points scored, but after the 1968-69 season, the same got shifted to points per game. Even though LeBron James has 1657 points this season(196 less than Embiid and Giannis), he would most likely end up winning the scoring title.