Kevin Durant vs Carmelo Anthony: Who will the scoring title this year?

Kevin Durant leads the league in scoring, 28.4ppg

Carmelo Anthony is close to winning first scoring title, 28.3ppg

Written by Rodney Fisher

With less than 9 games left in the season, it is not only the playoff hunt coming down to wire, but the race to win the 2012-13 scoring title. The resurgence of Carmelo Anthony and his Knicks now have him only behind Kevin Durant by .05 in scoring average.


Kevin Durant has held the crown the last three seasons (2009-10, 2010-11, and 2011-12). He already is the youngest to ever win the scoring title at age 21, but will be joining elite company by winning 4. The only other players with 4 scoring titles are Allen Iverson, George Gervin,  Wilt Chamberlain, and Michael Jordan. Jordan has a record 10 and Wilt is second with 7 including his mythical 50.4 points per game season in 1961-62.

Durant has, to his credit, played in more games this season than Carmelo so you can easily make the case that he has been more consistent. Add in the fact that he is the only player to have a teammate in the top ten in scoring as well, Russell Westbrook at 6 with 23.2 points per game.

Carmelo Anthony without any question right now has the hottest hand in the NBA, putting together 3 consecutive games with a minimum of 40 points tying Bernard King for the franchise record. He has a total of 7 40+ games this season, one more than Durant. This is the closest Anthony has been to a scoring title since the 2006-07 season when he finished 2nd averaging 28.9 points per game.

After his 50 point performance in Miami over the LeBron-and-Wade-less Heat, he commented that his hot shooting is all attributed to being healthy. His Knicks team relies more on Carmelo to score now with the injuries to Amare Stoudmire and a cast of players. After missing 14 games this season, he has been able to return to form.

The two players matchup on April 7th in OKC. Not only will the game be must watch television, but will the scoring matchup of the year.

We caught up with Carmelo Anthony during this year's NBA All-Star Weekend.