Records on the radar: Doncic is on fire, Curry is ageless, and the NBA is already going crazy

Three weeks into the new NBA season, the world’s premier basketball league is already delivering on its promise. Here is a look at some of the most intriguing early-season figures - numbers that could well turn into historic records before the campaign is over.

We begin, naturally, with Luka Doncic. The Los Angeles Lakers star has opened the season averaging 39.3 points per game on remarkable shooting splits: 49.8% from the field, 40.7% from beyond the arc, and 88.1% from the free-throw line. Should he sustain this pace, he will record the highest scoring average of the modern era, since the NBA-ABA merger. While Wilt Chamberlain’s all-time mark of 50.4 remains out of reach, surpassing Michael Jordan’s 37.1 points per game from the 1986/87 season is firmly in play.

That is only part of the story. The Slovenian phenom has already knocked down 55 three-pointers, putting him on track to eclipse Stephen Curry’s single-season record of 402, set in 2015/16. On a per-game basis, Doncic is averaging an unprecedented 5.5 triples - above Curry’s all-time benchmark of 5.3 from 2020/21.

Doncic is also scoring at a rate of 1.08 points per minute, putting another Chamberlain standard - 1.04 points per minute in 1961/62 - within reach. Curry, notably, is also ahead of that pace at 1.07.

Speaking of Curry, the 38-year-old sharpshooter is defying time by posting career-best numbers across the board: 30.6 points per game on 50.3% shooting from the field, 45.7% from three-point range, and a staggering 98.7% from the foul line (75-of-76). That puts him on pace to challenge Jose Calderón’s all-time free-throw record of 98.05%, set in 2008/09 - all while committing just 1.8 turnovers per game, the lowest mark of his career.

His longtime teammate Klay Thompson is enjoying a renaissance of his own, knocking down four three-pointers per game - a mark he has topped in only one season (4.4 in 2022/23) - while shooting 43% from deep, second only to his 43.9% clip in 2014/15.

Victor Wembanyama has delivered several jaw-dropping performances in the early going, though anyone expecting an all-time single-season blocks record may be disappointed. The San Antonio center has swatted 49 shots through 11 games, well off the pace required to catch Mark Eaton’s record of 456 from 1984/85. Wembanyama is averaging 4.5 blocks per game, a figure topped in five previous campaigns: Eaton in 1984/85 (5.6) and 1985/86 (4.6), Manute Bol in 1985/86 (5.0), Elmore Smith in 1973/74 (4.9), and Hakeem Olajuwon in 1989/90 (4.6).

Unsurprisingly, Wembanyama leads the league in plus-minus at +17.8, just ahead of Alex Caruso (+17.4). At the other end of the spectrum sit Charlotte’s Moussa Diabate (-13.7) and Sacramento’s Zach LaVine (-13.5).

Meanwhile, Ty Jerome continues to turn heads. One of the season’s biggest surprises, he is averaging 26.7 points per game on 50% shooting from the field, 38% from three, and 89% from the line. That places him ninth in league scoring, ahead of stars such as Jalen Brunson, Devin Booker, Cooper Flagg, Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic, Kyrie Irving, Donovan Mitchell, Deni Avdija, and Cade Cunningham.

Conversely, several players have struggled badly from long range. Bam Adebayo is shooting just 18.2% from three (6-of-33), Scottie Barnes 15.4% (4-of-26), Dyson Daniels 12.5% (2-of-16), and Joel Embiid 10% (3-of-30). Brandon Miller’s 26% clip is slightly more respectable, though he is letting it fly at far higher volume, standing at 27-of-104.

Jordan Poole, who has appeared in five games so far, has struggled mightily from the floor at 19.2% (5-of-26), yet has missed only once from the free-throw line (17-of-18, 94.4%).

Inside the arc, Washington’s Bub Carrington is shooting just 18.2% on two-pointers (2-of-11), alongside Keaton Wagler at 27.6% (8-of-29) and Emanuel Sharp at 30.8% (4-of-13).

James Harden has converted only 10 of his 29 attempts from within five feet (1.5 meters) of the basket - a 34.5% clip.

Alperen Sengun is shooting just 38.8% in the paint (19-of-49), a stark contrast to Adebayo’s 76.3% (29-of-38) in the same area.

Darius Garland is averaging 5.1 turnovers per game. Only two players in NBA history have finished a full season above five turnovers per contest: Russell Westbrook (5.41) and James Harden (5.7), both in 2016/17.

Rookie guard Darius Acuff Jr., meanwhile, has dominated possession time, holding the ball for 106 minutes so far - more than any other player in the league. By comparison, Doncic and Jalen Brunson sit at 91 minutes, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at 72, Harden at 59, and Avdija at 44.

The young guard is also putting up 23 field-goal attempts per game (converting at 41.3%), trailing only Gilgeous-Alexander (23.2), Doncic (24.3), and Anthony Edwards (26, across just four appearances).

That brings us to Israel’s Deni Avdija. After leading the league in drives to the basket last season at 27.8 per game, he currently ranks second with 24.8, behind only Franz Wagner (26.3).

Avdija is dishing out 3.1 assists per game on drives - matching last season’s figure and tying Wagner for first in the NBA - while also leading the league in turnovers on drives at 1.6 per contest.

Portland’s offseason addition of Ja Morant and the return of Damian Lillard have eased some of the offensive workload on Avdija. Last year, he averaged 79.1 touches per game, ranking eighth in the league ahead of players such as Harden, Jayson Tatum, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. This season, his touches have dipped to 69.7 per game - good for 21st, behind Dennis Schroder, Andrew Nembhard, and Davion Mitchell.

In traditional box-score categories, Avdija has seen modest declines from last season in scoring (22.3 points per game vs. 24.2), rebounding (6.4 vs. 6.9), and assists (6.3 vs. 6.7). However, his efficiency has ticked upward from both the field (47.1% vs. 46.2%) and three-point range (33.3% vs. 31.8%), while his turnovers have dropped from 3.8 to 3.0 per game. The lone red flag comes at the charity stripe, where he is shooting just 66.7%, down sharply from 80.2% a year ago.

At the team level, the Los Angeles Lakers are shooting a scorching 50.7% from the field - the highest league mark since the 1990/91 Boston Celtics (51.2%), and within sight of the all-time record of 54.5% set by the 1984/85 Lakers.

Los Angeles is also posting a 121.5 offensive rating, trailing only the all-time benchmark set by the 2023/24 Boston Celtics (123.2).

At the opposite end of the floor, Chicago’s 123.6 defensive rating puts the Bulls on pace for the worst mark in NBA history, surpassing the record set just last season by the Washington Wizards (122.7).

Golden State is shooting 40.3% from three-point range, a pace that would match the franchise record set in 2012/13, though still shy of the all-time league mark established by the 1996/97 Charlotte Hornets (42.8%).

Finally, Minnesota is converting just 67% of its free throws so far, weighed down largely by Rudy Gobert (41.5%) and Jonathan Kuminga (52.8%).