2018-19 NBA Regular Season: Points per game leaders so far

This regular season has been overflowing with highlight plays and memorable moments already, with a good number of games still left to play before the postseason kicks off. The amount of offense being used to outplay the opposition every single night is mind-boggling, and clearly shows how teams want to direct all their energy into outscoring their opponents on a nightly basis rather than overpowering them on defense.

James Harden's barrage has caught everyone off guard, including his own teammates. However, there are other superstars as well, who have put up dazzling numbers on the offensive end despite being outscored by 'The Beard' by a fair margin.

With the All-Star weekend right around the corner, it would help to draw out some perspective as to where the top scorers in the league stand with respect to each other. With no doubt as to who leads the list, let's dive in to see the top five players in terms of points scored per game so far in the season.

#5 Joel Embiid and Kevin Durant - 27.4 points per game

Joel Embiid has emerged as one of the more complete players across the league.

The Cameroonian Joel Embiid has broken out to put up dominant numbers across both ends of the floor this season. Even though he is matched with Kevin Durant with 27.4 ppg at this point in time, what makes him better is the fact he's rebounding at an alarming rate of 13.5 rpg as well.

This tie in offensive productivity between a center and small forward is what modern NBA basketball is all about. Durant and Embiid are both shooting almost 50% from the field, while Durant outmatches JoJo in the three-point category by a decent margin.

KD is shooting a career-high 90.8% from the free-throw line and he has scored 20+ points in 25 of his last 26 games with the Warriors. On the other hand, Embiid is on a roll of his own as he has now dropped 25+ points along with 10+ rebounds in six consecutive games.

The Warriors are still more than capable of winning a game even when KD doesn't show up on a given night. However, Embiid's absence is felt on both ends of the floor by Philly, making his numbers way more impactful and almost indispensable to Sixers' success.

#4 Paul George - 28.0 points per game

Paul George is one of the best two-way players in the league as of this moment.

To OKC fans' utmost delight, Paul George has taken over a lot of the burden on both ends of the court from Russell Westbrook. He has romped his way through a respectable amount of competition to grab a well-deserved berth on the All-Star starters team, averaging a career-high 28 ppg on 45% shooting from the floor.

His ability to steal the ball and finish with fastbreak points at an efficient rate is what makes him lethal to oppositions' point guards on every possession. Time and again this season, PG13 has shown that he can get buckets in clutch situations as his confidence continues to grow with every crunch shot he makes.

His highly productive offense can be attributed to his near-career-high 41% from the three-point land, having made the third most three-pointers(201) this season.

#3 Stephen Curry - 28.9 points per game

Stephen Curry is the only unanimous MVP in NBA's history.

The better half of the Splash Brothers has been on a familiar scoring wave, reminiscent of his back-to-back MVP years. He is shooting a lights-out 45% from beyond the arc, having scored 40+ points four times just this past month.

As expected, this is not his best scoring average ever but is still good enough to be the third best in the league at this point in time. He has the second most(5.1) fastbreak points this season after LeBron James, whilst also shooting the fifth best(45.2) percentage from distance.

At the rate Steph Curry is dropping treys at the moment, it won't be long before he becomes the all-time leader in three-pointers made, way before he even gives retirement a thought.

Against the Mavericks last month, Curry dropped a season-high total of 48 points and netted 11 shots from long range, giving the world a taste of what he is capable of still.

#2 Anthony Davis - 29.3 points per game

Anthony Davis is stuck with the Pelicans till the offseason arrives.

Among all scorers in this list, AD has played the fewest games (41). However, his double-double average of 29.3 ppg and 13.3 rpg in the time he was on the court is commendable.

Amid high-intensity trade rumors of his departure from New Orleans, the franchise decided to bench him for nine straight games despite being fit to play. Now that all has turned to smoke, Davis is expected to hit the court at the earliest and continue building upon his emphatic all-round campaign this season.

He is averaging a career-high in points and rebounds across the 41 games he has played so far, along with posting with the league's second-best blocks per game average(2.6) this year. He had scored 30+ points in six of the last eight matchups in New Orleans before his unexplained benching.

#1 James Harden - 36.5 points per game

James Harden is the front-runner to bag the MVP award this year.

The Beard has now scored at least 30 points in 28 games in a row, currently the third longest streak in NBA history behind the great Wilt Chamberlain.

Harden, the league leader in free-throw attempts, is shooting a career-best 87% from the foul line, along with averaging 36.5 ppg across the 51 games so far. For those who mocked him for being a slacker on defense, Harden has put together the second most steals total(111) of this season, bested only by Paul George.

He has attempted and made the most three-pointers this season, leaving downtown-specialist Curry behind by an insurmountable margin.

Harden dropped a career-high 61 points (22 of which came from the free-throw line) against the Knicks last month, one of many games this season where he has just blazed through the opposition and scored at will.