Dec 11, 2020
Harden favourite to lead NBA in points this season
As the NBA preseason kicks off Friday, sportsbooks continue to roll out a number of ways to wager on the world's premier basketball league.
TSN.ca Staff
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As the NBA preseason kicks off Friday, sportsbooks continue to roll out a number of ways to wager on the world's premier basketball league.
In recent weeks, we have looked at championship odds, team totals and who will win Rookie of the Year.
Today, we’re going to dive into who Vegas thinks will be the regular season scoring leader.
After leading the league in points last season with 2,335, James Harden enters this season as the favourite to reclaim his title.
Despite reports of Harden wanting out of Houston, he enters the season at +120 to lead the league in points this season.
Last season, the 31-year-old scored 357 more points than Damian Lillard, whose 1,978 points placed him second in the league.
Harden’s ability, and willingness to shoot the three, plays a massive role in allowing him to lead the league in points.
The lefty attempted 155 more three-point shots than anyone else in the league last season, and led the league in three’s made as well.
The shooting guard has led the league in points in back-to-back seasons, and despite missing 10 games of the 2017-18 season, he came just 60 points short of leading the league that season as well.
In fact, you have to go all the way back to the 2013-14 season to find a season where Harden didn’t finish in the top-two in league scoring.
But still, a lot can happen with Harden, both on and off the court that might prevent him from playing every game this season, or a trade could land him somewhere that he can’t command the ball as much.
Let’s take a look at a few players that might dethrone him.
Lillard comes in at No. 2 on the list at +650.
The point guard is coming off a career-high 30.0 points per game in 2019-20.
His ability to stay healthy and log heavy minutes will keep his name around the top of the list all season.
Luka Doncic and Steph Curry are not too far behind Lillard at +700.
After averaging 21.2 points a game in his rookie season, Doncic made a massive jump in his second NBA season, scoring seven points a game more than he did as a rookie.
The 21-year-old will have a chance at leading the league in points one day and, at such a young age, Vegas already has him in the top-three ranking.
Meanwhile, Steph Curry is back from injury and might just be out to prove he can score with the best of them.
The two-time league MVP came just one point short in the 2015-16 season, when his 2,375 points in 79 games weren’t enough to top Harden’s 2,376.
Curry has already averaged 30.1 points per game once before in his career, and if he can find a way to do that again he’s terrific value at +700.
Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakim are all listed at 250/1.
Here are the Top 15 players listed:
James Harden +120
Damian Lillard +650
Luka Doncic +700
Stephen Curry +700
Russell Westbrook +750
Devin Booker +1200
Giannis Antetokounmpo +1200
Trae Young +1200
Kevin Durant +1800
Bradley Beal +2500
Anthony Davis +3000
Jamal Murray +5000
Jayson Tatum +5000
Kyrie Irving +5000
LeBron James +6000