Sixers' Joel Embiid Surpasses Luka Doncic on Scoring Leaderboard

Joel Embiid is back at the top of the NBA in the scoring department.

Just last season, the Philadelphia 76ers center was crowned the NBA’s scoring champion for the first time in his career after averaging 30.6 points per game in 68 matchups.

It took some time before Embiid was leading the league in scoring again this season. While Embiid was out in front for a bit, he slipped behind for a stretch.

But on Thursday morning, Embiid took the top spot once again, as Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey pointed out on Twitter.

ht @bball_ref pic.twitter.com/KGk5bY6Or4
— Daryl Morey 🗽🏀 (@dmorey) March 9, 2023

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic had a slight edge over Embiid before. The Mavs’ star improved his status as the scoring leader in a game against the Sixers last week when he scored 42 points in 39 minutes of action.

Over the next two games, Doncic totaled 63 points in matchups against the Phoenix Suns and the Utah Jazz. Unfortunately, an uncharacteristically bad shooting night mixed with an injury on Wednesday night on the road against the New Orleans Pelicans led Doncic to wrap up his 27-minute shift with just 15 points.

By the end of the night, Doncic’s season average was down to 33 points per game. Now, Embiid’s 33.3 points per game leads the league.

Trailing the Sixers’ big man is Doncic, Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Jayson Tatum, all of which are averaging at least 30 points per game.

There is still plenty of time for the scoring leaderboard to have a shakeup, but Embiid is in the lead once again as the season winds down.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.