Elite performances push NBA to season scoring record

Top-tier scorers posted the largest-ever gap in points over the bottom tier

NBA teams averaged nearly 115 points per game during the 2022-23 season, the highest mark since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976.

The league has its top players to thank for one of the most explosive offensive seasons in history.

Points per game, all NBA teams

NBA teams scored an average of 114.7 points per game this season, the most of any year since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976.

The league’s top players set a record of their own. The top 20% of NBA scorers combined to average a high mark of 22 points per game this year.

Other tiers of scorers averaged between 4 and 14 points per game. That makes for the largest-ever points per game gap ever between the top and bottom groups of scorers.

The outburst among elite scorers was fueled in part by the ongoing NBA love affair with three-point shots. Three-pointers have surged in popularity across the league in recent years, especially among the top 20% of scorers.

All of this scoring has not come at the cost of creating plays for teammates. At nearly five assists per game, top scorers generated shots for teammates at a record level.

Note: Includes players who appeared in at least half of each season's games.
Source: Author's analysis of Basketball Reference data

The record-setting offensive season comes on the heels of some of the most potent in league history. The NBA set season scoring records in the 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21 seasons before a dip last year.

The league also saw a record number of elite single-game scoring performances this season. Players put up 25 50-point plus games in 2022-23, topping 2020’s record of 23 such games.

Luka Doncic led all players with four 50-point games, including the second-ever 60-point triple-double. Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo and season MVP Joel Embiid had three each.

Number of 50-point games by players each NBA season
Note: Year indicates that in which each season ended. For example, the 2022-23 season is labeled as 2023.
Source: Stathead

Six players averaged 30 points per game or more in 2022-23, according to Basketball Reference.

Players are coming into the NBA more skilled at shooting and handling the ball than ever before, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters in January, while the game is more offensively-minded and faster-paced league than in past years.

“I think the game has gotten really loose, and the players are so talented,” Kerr said. “It’s made for a lot of big scoring nights.”

It’s not just the offense, according to Kerr.

“Transition defense is at an all-time low in this league,” he said.