National Basketball Association

Joel Embiid poised to win back-to-back scoring titles

Updated Apr. 8, 2023 3:18 p.m. ET

While it appears Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid is on his way to winning his first MVP, one thing that's nearly written in stone is that he will win his second scoring title.

Embiid — he didn’t play in Friday’s overtime win over Atlanta and there’s no need for him to in the 76ers’ regular-season finale on Sunday, either — will almost certainly finish the season averaging 33.1 points, the top mark in the league with a day to go in the regular season.

The only player who had a realistic chance entering Friday to catch Embiid was Dallas’ Luka Dončić. But he played sparingly Friday, changing into street clothes at halftime of the Mavericks’ loss to Chicago, one that eliminated Dallas from postseason contention and assured Oklahoma City the No. 10 spot in the play-in tournament. Mavs coach Jason Kidd said Dončić won’t play Sunday in the finale against San Antonio, so his season is over.

Dončić played Friday for only the first quarter and the first 35 seconds of the second quarter. He scored 13 points, and his average fell to 32.4.

Barring something mathematically improbable in the season’s final two days, Embiid will become the 13th player to win back-to-back scoring crowns — with the most recent name on that list being his 76ers teammate James Harden, who did it with Houston. Embiid won it last year by holding off Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo by 0.7 points per game and is now poised to edge Dončić this year by the same margin.

Portland’s Damian Lillard will finish with an average of 32.2 points per game; Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is currently fourth at 31.4 per game. For him to catch Embiid, assuming Embiid doesn’t play Sunday against Brooklyn, Gilgeous-Alexander would need to play and score 148 points in the Thunder’s regular-season finale against Memphis — so it’s probably safe to start engraving the trophy.

Before Embiid won last year's scoring title, the last center to lead the league in scoring was Shaquille O'Neal, who averaged 29.7 points for the Lakers back in the 1999-00 season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.