Last season, Stephen Curry and Bradley Beale fought over the top scorer, and the fierce competition between the two continued until the final week of the regular season before They lost suspense due to Beal's injury. In the end, Curry won the scoring throne with less than 0.7 points.
This season, the battle for the top scorer is more intense than last season. Needless to say, the "alphabet brother" Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid are top stars. The gimmick of the competition between the three stars is significantly more than the competition between the bosses of the two eighth-place teams in the division last season.
The competition can be characterized as "one of the fiercest in history" for the time being, but by the end of the final day of the regular season, the "one" may be removed. And, whether It's James, Antetokounmpo or Embiid winning the scoring champions, they can achieve a major milestone.
The battle of the scoring kings is rare
At present, the battle for the scoring king is in a three-legged pattern. James' 38-point average improved to 29.96 points per game after facing his old club cavaliers, surpassing Embiid, who averaged 29.81 points per game, to return to the top of the table, and Antetokounmpo's average of points per game dropped to 29.71 points per game to 3rd place after today's game against the Bulls.
James' advantage over Embiid is only 0.15 points, and the advantage ahead of Antetokounmpo is only 0.25 points, and the gap between the three is negligible, and the ranking changes once someone plays a game with explosive data or someone performs abnormally.
What is the concept of putting the first and second points difference between the first and second scorers in history? Can be ranked second, behind the 1977-78 season, when George Gervin beat David Thompson by 0.07 points to win the scoring game. Of course, Gervin and Thompson were two males competing for supremacy, when was the most intense competition between the three males before? The answer was the 1985–86 season, when Dominique Wilkins, Adrian Dantley and Alex Ingrish competed for the top scorer, a gap of just 0.5 points.
At the current pace, James, Embiid and Antetokounmpo are likely to stage the fiercest scorer battle in history. In addition, the gap between the first and second places in the scoring list is also likely to be the smallest in history. Previously, the gap was only 0.02 points, but after James played the Cavaliers to slash 38 points, the gap became 0.15 points.
Whoever wins the scoring cap this year can create a milestone. If Embiid wins the leading scorer, he will be the first center to win the leading scorer since O'Neal in 2000, which will mark the official return of the super center to center stage. If Antetokounmpo gets it, he will be on par with Michael Jordan and become the second player to achieve a Grand Slam with four major awards: MVP, FMVP, Best Defensive Player Award, and Scoring King. If James gets it, he'll be the oldest scorer in history, breaking Jordan's record.
From the Doku battle to the three-legged stand
At the beginning of the season, the Nets and the Warriors, Kevin Durant and Curry were intertwined. At that time, the Nets and Warriors were soaring, and Durant and Curry scored like probes, competing darkly in the scoring list. During that time, James was affected by an abdominal injury and missed many games, and the number of games he could play was not good. Embiid contracted the coronavirus in early November and his condition was greatly affected. At the beginning of the season, the only one who could pose a threat to Durant and Curry on the scoring list was Antetokounmpo.
Originally, Durant firmly occupied the top of the scoring list, but from November 9 to 19, 2021, in 10 days, Curry scored 50 points in one game, 40 points in two other games, and 37 points in one game, achieving a reversal of Durant. But then, as Curry's form plummeted, efficiency and production declined, Durant returned to the top of the scoring list.
After Curry gradually withdrew from the scoring championship, James became Durant's strongest opponent. Anthony Davis was injured, James was more pushed to the fifth position, James' scoring soared, they seemed to return to the years of competing for the scoring king 12 years ago, as of January 15, 2022, James averaged 28.9 points per game, only 0.4 points away from Durant, the US media also took the opportunity to hype a bit, engaged in a wave of nostalgia, looking back at the two scoring kings dispute between James and Durant more than a decade ago, sighing at the evergreen of the two.
Injury knocking down Durant changed the situation of the scoring king battle, And Durant missed a large number of games after the injury and withdrew from the scoring king battle. Embiid averaged 29.2 points per game in December last year, 34 points per game in January this year, and 32.5 points per game in February, a strong battle for the top scorer, and the competition has evolved into a three-game competition, with James, Antetokounmpo and Embiid all averaging more than 29 points per game.
Judging by the situation at the time, the battle for the scoring champion was more like a competition between Embiid and Antetokounmpo, two middle-aged players at the peak of their careers, both of whom had occupied the top spot in the scoring table. But no one expected james to score at least 50 points in two games in March, and he became a spoiler.
After that, Sanxiong began to compete wildly. On March 11, the top three scorers were Embiid, Antetokounmpo and James. On March 12, after James scored 50 points against the Wizards, the ranking rose directly from No. 3 to No. 1, with Embiid and Antetokounmpo coming in second.
On March 13, Antetokounmpo scored 31 points for the Warriors and overtook Embiid to move up to second place.
On March 14, Embiid scored 35 points against the Magic, James scored 31 points against the Suns, and embiid overtook James to the top of the table with a 0.042 point advantage after the game.
On March 17, James scored just 19 points against the Timberwolves, while antetokounmpo hit the Kings on the same day and scored 36 points. After the game, Antetokounmpo overtook James and rose to 2nd place.
On March 20, James scored 38 points against the Wizards, and on the same day, Antetokounmpo was suspended, and after the game, James surpassed Antetokounmpo to return to second place.
On March 21, Embiid scored just 21 points against the Raptors, and the next day James faced the Cavaliers and scored 38 points, and James surpassed Embiid to return to the top of the table.
In less than 10 days, the scoring list has changed six times, and the number of times the score list has changed hands this season is rare in history. Exactly who will win the scoring king is still unknown, but it is certain that this year's scoring champion battle is likely to continue until the last day of the regular season, and it is not impossible to have a dramatic result in the end.
Zhan Huangyin had the greatest hope for two points
Although James's advantage over Embiid and Antetokounmpo is small, from the situation in the sprint stage, James has the highest probability of winning the scoring king.
James' first advantage is a bit poignant to say, and his teammates around him can't help him enough. Anthony Davis is still recuperating from injury and exactly when he will return is still unknown. Of the Players who can play for the Lakers, no one averages more than 19 points per game. Although There have been highlights in Augustine's recent performances, Russell Westbrook has performed well in three consecutive games, but the Lakers still need James to cut high points to have a chance to win. The Lakers have not yet locked up a playoff spot, and James must continue to fire up next.
James' second advantage is that he has more playing time and more shots. James has played at least 40 minutes in three of his last five games, and he's averaged 21.7 shots in 37.1 minutes this season.
Embiid has averaged just 33.4 minutes and 19.3 shots this season. Recently Embiid suffered a minor back injury, and Doug Rivers revealed that Embiid had been playing with the injury for some time. Next, Rivers may control Embiid's playing time, taking irregular breaks to prepare for the playoffs.
The same is true of Antetokounmpo, who has been controlling the regular season playing time of core players in recent years since he took over as Bucks manager, averaging just 32.9 minutes and 18.6 shots per game this season, and he has not averaged more than 33 minutes per game in four consecutive seasons. With the return of Lopez Jr. from injury, the Bucks' core foursome is back intact and the Bucks' competitiveness is improving. Today's Bucks playing the Bulls brought the game into garbage time early, and Antetokounmpo only played 30 minutes and shot 12 times, looking less interested in competing scorers.
Of course, these are only theories, and no one knows what happened in the last 19 days. Considering that the Lakers are fighting for play-off spots, the Bucks and 76ers are direct competitors in the 2nd place in the East (or even the top spot in the East), the two sides are now only 0.5 wins apart, and if there is no injury, this three-man battle is likely to be won or lost until the final day of the regular season.
The only regret is that this three-male competition could have become the four absolute swords, and Durant currently averages 29.6 points per game, which is a very small gap with the top 3. Unfortunately, Durant missed a lot of games due to a knee injury, and his attendance was not up to standard and could not enter the scoring list, which was a pity.