With the month of January coming to an end it’s a good opportunity to check out the leading scorers in this NBA season so far, which is another way of saying how far away is Stephen Curry from the rest of the league?
Stephen Curry leads the scoring with 29.7 points per game so far this season, which is a career high for him. Curry averaged 28.1 points in 31.7 minutes per game in January with five games of 37 points or more and his best being a 39-point performance in the win over the Indiana Pacers last week.
For all of the criticism he takes, James Harden is still putting on a nice number of points. In fact, his 27.9 points per game is a career high so far for Harden, who is scoring a bit more than last season in the per minute factor as well. In January he’s averaging 26.8 points through 16 games.
After the Houston Rockets star comes a former teammate of his, Kevin Durant. Durant is averaging 27.2 points per game in exactly 36 minutes a night, which means he’s off his impressive mark from the 2013-2014 season (29.9 points per 36 minutes) when he led the NBA in scoring with 32 points a night. In 15 games this month, he’s averaging 28.5 points per game.
The Sacramento Kings might be on another losing streak, but it isn’t hurting DeMarcus Cousins and his numbers, averaging 27 points per game this season, also vastly improving his per minute numbers too. He’s one of only two “true centers” in the top 20 of the NBA scoring list this season, with Brook Lopez joining him on 20.1 points per game.
No scoring list is complete without LeBron James, who is averaging 24.9 points per game this season, which is his lowest since his rookie year, although his per minute numbers remain consistent with his numbers since his first year on the Miami Heat. James is averaging 23.6 points a night in January, which included a rare stretch of three consecutive games with 19 points or less for him, something that hasn’t happened since his rookie year.
Overall there are 20 players at the moment averaging 20 points or more per game. Last season, with Russell Westbrook leading the scoring averages (28.1 points a night, this season at 24.1, 7th in the league), only 15 players averaged 20 points or more per game.
Points Per Game (Top 10)
| RK | PLAYER | TEAM | GP | MPG | PTS | FGM-FGA | FG% | 3PM-3PA | 3P% | FTM-FTA | FT% |
| 1 | Stephen Curry, PG | GS | 45 | 33.8 | 29.7 | 9.8-19.3 | .510 | 4.8-10.6 | .455 | 5.2-5.7 | .914 |
| 2 | James Harden, SG | HOU | 50 | 37.3 | 27.9 | 8.2-19.1 | .428 | 2.7-7.9 | .349 | 8.8-10.1 | .872 |
| 3 | Kevin Durant, SF | OKC | 42 | 36.0 | 27.2 | 9.3-18.3 | .508 | 2.3-5.9 | .387 | 6.3-7.1 | .889 |
| 4 | DeMarcus Cousins, C | SAC | 39 | 34.1 | 27.0 | 9.1-20.5 | .444 | 1.2-3.4 | .338 | 7.6-10.3 | .732 |
| 5 | LeBron James, SF | CLE | 45 | 35.7 | 24.9 | 9.4-18.6 | .508 | 1.1-3.8 | .284 | 5.0-6.8 | .724 |
| 6 | Damian Lillard, PG | POR | 41 | 36.1 | 24.3 | 8.4-19.8 | .422 | 3.0-8.0 | .376 | 4.5-5.3 | .861 |
| 7 | Russell Westbrook, PG | OKC | 49 | 34.2 | 24.1 | 8.5-18.7 | .455 | 1.2-4.0 | .293 | 5.9-7.3 | .812 |
| 8 | Paul George, SF | IND | 47 | 35.5 | 23.5 | 7.4-18.0 | .413 | 2.8-7.3 | .380 | 5.8-6.8 | .853 |
| 9 | DeMar DeRozan, SG | TOR | 47 | 36.4 | 23.2 | 7.9-17.7 | .444 | 0.6-1.9 | .318 | 6.9-8.1 | .846 |
| 10 | Anthony Davis, PF | NO | 40 | 35.4 | 22.9 | 8.7-17.7 | .489 | 0.5-1.7 | .294 | 5.0-6.6 | .764 |
The Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers have two players each in the NBA’s top 20 of points per game: Curry and Klay Thompson for the Warriors, Durant and Westbrook for the Thunder and Damian Lillard with C.J. McCollum for the Blazers.
Among the rookies, there are six in this NBA season averaging double figure scoring. Jahlil Okafor of the Philadelphia 76ers leads the bunch with 17.3 points per game, followed by Karl-Anthony Towns with 16.5 points a night, Kristaps Porzingis with 13.9, D’Angelo Russell scoring 12 per game and Emmanuel Mudiay scoring 11.3 points per game.
Rookies Points Per Game (Top 5)
| Rk | Player | Tm | G | GS | PTS ▾ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jahlil Okafor | 2015-16 | 20 | PHI | NBA | 42 | 37 | 17.3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Karl-Anthony Towns | 2015-16 | 20 | MIN | NBA | 48 | 48 | 16.5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Kristaps Porzingis | 2015-16 | 20 | NYK | NBA | 48 | 48 | 13.9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | D’Angelo Russell | 2015-16 | 19 | LAL | NBA | 47 | 22 | 12.0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Emmanuel Mudiay | 2015-16 | 19 | DEN | NBA | 34 | 32 | 11.3 |