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2026-27 · Preseason · Preseason
Michael Porter Jr. tops the 2026-27 preseason scoring list at 21.7 points a game
Michael Porter Jr. averaged 21.7 points in three preseason games for Brooklyn, ahead of Deni Avdija, Jaylen Brown and Anthony Edwards. The full top 10 and who just missed the cut.
In this article
Michael Porter Jr. finished the 2026-27 preseason as the NBA’s top scorer, averaging 21.7 points in three games for the Brooklyn Nets while playing fewer than 23 minutes a night. It is the clearest early sign of what the Nets plan to lean on when the games start to count on Wednesday.
Porter scored 65 points on 23-of-39 shooting (59 percent), made 10 of his 21 three-point tries and went 9 of 11 at the line. His best night came last at Miami on Wednesday, October 14: 27 points on 9-of-17 shooting in a 144-128 loss. Before that he had 16 in 17 minutes of a 124-90 rout at Charlotte on October 6 and 22 in a 131-122 win at Washington on October 12.
The preseason scoring top 10
The list counts every preseason game on the WhyNBA scoreboard (67 games across all 30 teams, ending Friday, October 16). A player needs at least three appearances to qualify, and minutes are per game.
| Rank | Player | Team | PPG | Games | MPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Porter Jr. | Nets | 21.7 | 3 | 22.7 |
| 2 | Deni Avdija | Trail Blazers | 20.3 | 3 | 23.2 |
| 3 | Jaylen Brown | 76ers | 20.0 | 3 | 24.0 |
| 4 | Anthony Edwards | Timberwolves | 19.8 | 4 | 22.6 |
| 5 | Luka Dončić | Lakers | 19.7 | 3 | 19.9 |
| 5 | Cooper Flagg | Mavericks | 19.7 | 3 | 24.7 |
| 7 | Austin Reaves | Lakers | 18.3 | 3 | 27.0 |
| 8 | RJ Barrett | Raptors | 18.2 | 4 | 23.5 |
| 9 | Damian Lillard | Trail Blazers | 17.3 | 3 | 22.7 |
| 10 | Paolo Banchero | Magic | 17.2 | 4 | 21.7 |
| 10 | Darius Acuff | Kings | 17.2 | 4 | 24.2 |
Who else stood out
Anthony Edwards scored the most total points of anyone, 79 across four games, and made 24 of his 27 free throws. His 26 against the Knicks on October 12 was his high. Deni Avdija’s 26 points and nine rebounds in a 110-98 Portland win at Sacramento was the best all-around night in the top five, and Jaylen Brown got his 20 a game on 58 percent shooting for Philadelphia.
Luka Dončić is the efficiency outlier: 19.7 points in under 20 minutes a night, carried by 21 made free throws in 23 attempts. Cooper Flagg matched him at 19.7, closing with 26 in Dallas’s final tune-up. Austin Reaves owns the single highest game in the group, the 28 he scored against Golden State in Las Vegas on October 13.
A few stars just missed the cut on games played. Jayson Tatum averaged 21.0 points but appeared only twice, Jalen Duren averaged 19.0 in two games and James Harden 18.5 in two. Darius Acuff tied Banchero for 10th, and Rui Hachimura and Dillon Brooks were next at 17.0.
Preseason numbers come in short minutes against rotating lineups, so the order will not hold for long. The full regular-season boards will be on the league leaders and player stats pages once the first games are played.
What comes next
Porter and the Nets open the regular season at home against the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, October 21 at 7:30 pm ET. Game Center: Hornets at Nets.
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