It's often said, "LeBron James is the best player and Kevin Durant is the best scorer." This is a valid way to think, but it's an opinion without nuance.
It's correct that Durant scores more efficiently than LBJ—just barely. This season, his true shooting percentage (a field-goal percentage that takes free throws and three-pointers into account) is a wisp over LeBron's at 61 percent to 60.5 percent.
How does Kevin Durant maintain such efficiency? You might think that KD just scores better from all over the floor, but this isn't so. On two-pointers away from the rim, Durant shot 43 percent this season on 9.7 attempts per game to LeBron's 42 percent on 9.6 attempts. Last year, James led KD in this category, 44 percent to 42 percent. Durant may be a better "shooter" than LeBron, but that case isn't made below the three-point line.
It's made beyond the three-point line, of course. This season, Durant's launching 5.2 shots per game from downtown and making .387 of them, the points equivalent of 58.1 percent on twos. LeBron shoots a respectable .362 from downtown, but launches only 2.4 times per game. For all the carping about how teams ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Ethan Sherwood Strauss
Heat-Thunder: The Real Scoring Difference Between LeBron and Durant
June 12th, 2012 by Ethan Sherwood Strauss Leave a reply »
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