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It's been a crazy week in the NBA, to say the least, between Luka Doncic's 60-point triple-double and LeBron James' unbelievable birthday performance. With the NBA season in full swing and the new year rapidly approaching, we're taking one final look at 2022's weekly stat leaders before making the jump to 2023.
Without further ado, here are this season's current stat leaders:
NBA Scoring Leader: Joel Embiid (33.8 ppg)
Joel Embiid continues to lead the NBA in points per game. The MVP candidate managed to improve on his numbers compared to last week, increasing his average by .8. Thanks to a massive 48 point performance in Tuesday's loss to the Washington Wizards, he's managed to remain ahead of Luka Doncic in the standings.
Currently, Doncic is just .1 away from catching Embiid, with an average of 33.7 points per game as of December 31st.
NBA Assist Leader: Tyrese Haliburton (10.2 apg)
Despite what Wally Szczerbiak might think, Tyrese Haliburton has made quite the case for himself when it comes to being named an All-Star. The young Indiana Pacers standout has managed to hold onto his spot as the league's assist leader this week, sitting .3 assists per game ahead of Trae Young.
Haliburton had a big game on Thursday night against the Cavaliers, where he racked up 29 points and 9 assists in the team's win.
NBA Rebounding Leader: Domantas Sabonis (12.3 rpg)
It was a big win for Domontas Sabonis and the Sacramento Kings as they wrapped up the year with a big win on Friday when they hosted the Utah Jazz. Sabonis sat out the team's first game of the week, which was a big contributing factor in his average dropping by .2 rebounds per game.
In his absence, Rudy Gobert managed to close the gap between him and Sabonis as he increased his second-place average to 12.0 rebounds per game.
NBA steals Leader: O.G. Anunoby (2.2 spg)
(Suggested Reading: James Harden back to Houston?)
O.G. Anunoby is still holding out strong as the league leader in steals. With an average of 2.2 steals per game, he sits .2 steals per game ahead of De'Anthony Melton in second place with 2.0 steals per game.
Despite the team going 1-2 this week, Anunoby recorded back-to-back games with 2 steals against the Grizzlies and the Suns to hold onto the top spot. This is the third week in a row now that Anunoby has been featured in our league leader report.
NBA Blocks Leader: Brook Lopez (2.6 bpg)
Brook Lopez continues to lead the league in blocks per game, marking the third time the Milwaukee Bucks center has appeared in our weekly league leader report. Despite the team going 1-2 this week, Lopez managed to have back-to-back games with four blocks.
The impressive feat came during the team's loss to the Chicago Bulls on the 28th, and the Bucks' win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 30th.
With the final weekly league leaders report of 2022 now complete, it will be interesting to see how things play out in the new year.
(Suggested Reading: Rumor says LeBron James could be traded this offseason)
