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With the new year underway, it's only fitting that we see a shakeup in this week's update on NBA stat leaders. After kicking the year off with a massive 42-point outing against the New Orleans Pelicans, scoring leader Joel Embiid was forced to miss the next two games. During that time, Embiid fell from his spot as the scoring leader.
But who took his place? Let's take a look at our weekly NBA stat leaders.
NBA Scoring Leader: Luka Doncic (34.0 points per game)
With Joel Embiid out, Luka Doncic rose to the occasion and had two big games to kick off the year. In the Dallas Mavericks January 2nd game against the Houston Rockets, Doncic scored 39 points, while hauling down 12 rebounds and dishing out eight assists.
He followed it up with another 23-point outing in the team's blowout loss to the Boston Celtics, where he pulled ahead of Embiid on the scoring list. With these two performances, Doncic now leads the league in scoring with 34.0 points per game. In addition, Joel Embiid now sits behind him with 33.5 points per game.
NBA Assists Leader: Tyrese Haliburton (10.2 assists per game)
Tyrese Haliburton has held strong as the league's assist leader, averaging 10.2 assists per game in the new year, just like he did to close out 2023. With Trae Young sitting in second place, unable to catch him, Haliburton started the year off hot. On January 2, he dished out eight assists, before then turning things up.
In the next two games, Haliburton dished out 12 assists each, maintaining his dominance as the league's assist leader.
NBA Rebound Leader: Domantas Sabonis (12.5 rebounds per game)
With the new year underway, Domantas Sabonis has pulled further ahead as the league leader in rebounds per game. After finishing 2022 with 12.3 rebounds per game, Sabonis started the year off hot, racking up three straight games with 14 rebounds.
The string of performances stretched his lead over Rudy Gobert, who sits in second place with 11.9 rebounds per game.
NBA steals Leader: O.G. Anunoby (2.2 spg)
O.G. Anunoby has continued to maintain his lead as the NBA's steals leader, averaging 2.2 steals per game in the new year. After ending 2022 as the league leader in steals, Anunoby kept the momentum rolling as he put on a clinic to start 2023.
In the Raptors' January 2nd game against the Indiana Pacers, Anunoby recorded one steal before picking things up in the team's January 4th game with the Milwaukee Bucks. There he recorded four steals in an astonishing 46 minutes played. Just two days later, he suited up for the Raptors' game against the Knicks, where he recorded three steals.
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NBA blocks Leader: Nic Claxton & Brook Lopez (2.6 blocks per game - TIE)
Although the Brooklyn Nets had a rough week as the Chicago Bulls snapped their impressive win streak, Nic Claxton had three massive outings. In each of the team's first two games of the new year, Claxton had three blocks. To wrap the week up, he swatted away five shots in the team's January 6th win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
With the three big performances, he now has tied Brook Lopez as the league leader with 2.6 blocks per game.
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