Have you ever wondered how the NBA’s best players score all their points? Whether they do it via dunks, points in the paint, mid-range attempts, free throws or 3-pointers, it always comes in a variety of ways.
Matt Walks of Digital First Media has a weekly blog called “Starting Five.” In his feature, he breaks down five of the most surprising, interesting or telling statistics in the NBA. As it turns out, Walks took the time this week to break down how each of the NBA’s top five scoring leaders score all their points. Timberwolves All-Star Kevin Love ranks fourth in the league in scoring, averaging 25.7 points per game.
Kevin Durant (31.2) of the Thunder, Carmelo Anthony (27.1) of the Knicks and four-time NBA MVP LeBron James (26.1) of the Heat are the top three, with Golden State’s Stephen Curry (24.6) ranking fifth. Here’s how
The top five are vastly different.
Love scores 35 percent of his points in the paint, 26.1 percent on 3-pointers, 26.5 percent on free throws and 12.4 percent on mid-range shots. In contrast, Durant scores 32.3 percent of his points in the paint, 27.5 percent on free throws, 21.5 percent on 3-pointers and 18.6 percent on mid-range shots. Anthony actually scores the majority of his points (30.1 percent) on mid-range shots while Curry explodes with more than 40 percent of his points coming from behind the arc.
The most dominant player close to the basket? It’s James, who averages a whopping 51 percent of his points in the paint.
Pretty cool, huh?
