Joel Embiid is ready to win consecutive goalscoring titles

While it appeared Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid is on track to win his first MVP, it’s almost certain that he’ll win his second scoring title.

Embiid – he didn’t play in the stoppage-time win on Friday Atlanta nor does he need to feature in the 76ers’ regular season finals on Sunday – will almost certainly end the season with an average of 33.1 points, a top-of-the-line finish with a day left. Another is the regular season.

The only player with a realistic chance on Friday to catch Embiid is dalas‘ Luka Doncic. But he played sparingly on Friday, changing into his street clothes at halftime of last Mavericks loss. Chicagoone that removed Dallas from post-season contention and secured Oklahoma City 10th place in the Play-In Tournament. Mavs coach Jason Kidd said Doncic will not compete on Sunday in the final against San Antonioso his season is over.

Doncic only played Friday in the first quarter and the first 35 seconds in the second quarter. He scored 13 points, and his GPA dropped to 32.4.

Except for something that is mathematically impossible in the final two days of the season, Embiid will become the 13th player to claim the consecutive goalscoring crown – 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 back by Milwaukee Giannis Antetokounmpo by 0.7 points per game and is now poised to overtake Doncic this year by a similar margin.

Portland Damian Lillard will finish with an average of 32.2 points per game; Oklahoma City Shai Gilgeous-Alexander currently fourth with 31.4 per game. Let him catch Embiid, assuming Embiid doesn’t fight Sunday BrooklynGilgeous-Alexander will need to compete and score 148 points in the Thunder’s regular season finale against Memphis – so it might be safe to start carving out the trophy.

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

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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