In two weeks on Sunday, April 13, the 2024-25 NBA regular season will come to a conclusion. Some teams will battle it out for playoff positioning, while others will look to earn as many ping pong balls as possible for the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery.
There are also some close league leader races that are going down to the wire. Some seem to be foregone conclusions as to who will lead the league in a category. Nobody is catching Dyson Daniels in steals per game for example. Here are five statistical categories though where the NBA league leader may not be known until the final day of the regular season. All stats provided are through games played on March 29.
Close NBA League Leader Races With Two Weeks Remaining
Field Goal Percentage
This race is between two big men in the Eastern Conference who are on top-six teams. Jarrett Allen of the Cleveland Cavaliers holds a slight lead shooting 70.2% from the field. The eight-year veteran has shot better than 60% each of the previous five seasons, but he has never led the league in the category.
Very close behind him is the Detroit Pistons’ Jalen Duren. At 69.8%, he is within a stone’s throw of overtaking Allen. Just 21 years old and in his third season, the 6-foot-10 center shot a combined 63.1% over his first two years.
Three-Pointers Made
Stephen Curry is third in this race with 268 made three-pointers, but missing 11 games probably cost him a chance to lead the league for a ninth time. Instead, your current leader is a player who has mostly come off the bench in Malik Beasley. The Pistons guard has nailed 286 threes on the year despite coming off the bench in 58 of his 74 appearances.
Right behind him is Minnesota Timberwolves star guard Anthony Edwards, who has made 283 from beyond the arc. Both have matching 42-32 records, thus both have eight games remaining to see who can end the season with more.
Three-Point Percentage
There are seven players within 1.5% of each other atop the three-point percentage league leaders. The current player leading the way is Taurean Prince of the Milwaukee Bucks at 44.5%.
Right behind him though are Luke Kennard (44.1%), Keon Ellis (43.4%), Zach LaVine (43.3%), Ty Jerome (43.1%), Kevin Durant (43.1%), and Grayson Allen (43.0%). Kennard led the league in three-point accuracy in both 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Free-Throw Percentage
Largely seen as the best shooter of all-time, Stephen Curry is attempting to lead the league in free-throw accuracy for the fifth time in his career. He leads at 92.6%, missing just 19 of his 257 free-throw attempts.
In second, is Damian Lillard at 92.1%. It is unclear if the nine-time All-Star will return this season due to blood clots in his right calf. Kyrie Irving, out for the year with a torn ACL, is third at 91.6%.
Minutes Per Game
Cue the Tom Thibodeau detractors who say that he overextends his best players. Josh Hart is tied with Tyrese Maxey at 37.7 minutes per contest. Maxey is currently out with a sprained finger for the eliminated Philadelphia 76ers, and it’s unknown if he will return to action. Right behind them is Hart’s teammate, Mikal Bridges at 37.6. Devin Booker is also in the hunt at 37.4.
Photo credit: © Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
The post Close NBA League Leader Races With Two Weeks Remaining appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.