2022 NBA scoring champion odds: Joel Embiid retakes favored role; LeBron James would not qualify if finished for season
The NBA scoring race could come down to the final game of the regular season.
When the NBA was dark Monday, LeBron James led the league in scoring at 30.3 points per game and was the -120 favorite to win the title. Joel Embiid was at 30.2 ppg and was +250 on this prop, and Giannis Antetokounmpo was third at 30.1 ppg and priced +300. Things are looking quite different after Embiid's huge game Tuesday and the fact LeBron is likely done for the season. Embiid is now the -250 betting favorite to win his first scoring title via SportsLine oddsmakers.
No center has won the scoring title since 1999-2000 when Shaquille O'Neal did at 29.7 ppg. Embiid hung 45 points on the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday, his second straight 40-point game and 12th of the season (most in NBA), and now leads the league at 30.4 ppg.
The question is how many more games Embiid may play in the regular season. Philly still could finish anywhere from second to fourth in the East, and Coach Doc Rivers will have to decide how important seeding is compared to ensuring Embiid is healthy for the postseason. Philly's remaining games: Thursday at Toronto, Saturday vs. Indiana, Sunday vs. Detroit. I'd be stunned if Embiid played Sunday in the second of a back-to-back unless the Sixers can win the No. 2 seed. Rivers also surely wants to reward Embiid with the scoring title.
The season is likely over for James, who is being destroyed on social media and sports talk shows today because he has missed the past two games with an ankle injury when the Lakers needed him most. Los Angeles was eliminated from play-in tournament consideration in Tuesday's loss at Phoenix, so there's presumably no way that James is going to play in the final three regular-season games. If he did simply to win a scoring title, the blowback would be incredibly bad.
Assuming he's done, James would not qualify for the scoring title. Sort of. NBA rules dictate that a player must appear in at least 58 contests during an 82-game season (70 percent of a team's games) to qualify for any individual statistical title, and James has played in only 56 games.
The exception to the rule is if a player would have led the league in the category had he played the required number of games with his current total. So long story short: LeBron's total points currently (1,695) divided by 58 games instead of 56. Then his average would be 29.2 ppg. LeBron's lone scoring title came in the 2007-08 season. He is now +500 to win it.
Giannis dropped to 29.9 ppg following a quiet 18-point effort in Tuesday's easy win in Chicago, but the Greek Freak wasn't really needed much and only played 24 minutes due in part to some foul trouble. The Bucks are basically in the same boat as the Sixers in terms of finishing anywhere from second to fourth in the East, so how much will Coach Mike Budenholzer play Giannis in the final three games? Milwaukee's schedule: vs. Boston on Thursday, at Detroit on Friday and at Cleveland on Sunday.
Via SportsLine oddsmakers: Who wins the NBA scoring title?
- Joel Embiid -250
- Giannis Antetokounmpo +300
- LeBron James +500
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