James Harden has posted the most career points through the third quarter, with 16,564 points.

Interpreted as:

most points by a player ever through third quarter

	NAME	PTS	GP	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	TS%	OREB	DREB	TPG	MIN	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	+/-
1	James Harden J. Harden	16,564	784	22.5	21.1	5.0	7.3	1.3	0.5	6.3	14.3	44.3	2.5	6.9	36.7	6.0	6.8	87.4	61.1	0.6	4.4	3.5	17,606	3,923	5,697	1,004	393	2,721	1,608	+2392
2	Giannis Antetokounmpo G. Antetokounmpo	15,342	787	20.6	19.5	8.0	4.2	0.9	0.9	7.3	13.1	55.6	0.5	1.7	27.7	4.4	6.3	69.4	61.2	1.5	6.6	2.5	16,182	6,331	3,297	698	740	1,942	1,959	+2513
3	Stephen Curry S. Curry	15,042	695	21.1	21.6	4.1	5.3	1.2	0.2	7.3	15.3	47.7	3.7	8.8	42.4	3.3	3.6	91.6	64.0	0.5	3.6	2.5	14,653	2,835	3,692	854	165	1,750	1,205	+3186
4	Damian Lillard D. Lillard	14,811	736	22.5	20.1	3.5	5.8	0.8	0.3	6.5	14.6	44.6	2.6	6.7	37.9	4.5	5.0	90.9	59.9	0.5	3.0	2.3	16,562	2,575	4,263	594	184	1,718	1,056	+1289
5	DeMar DeRozan D. DeRozan	14,281	809	22.9	17.7	3.6	4.1	0.9	0.3	6.4	13.4	47.9	0.5	1.5	31.5	4.4	5.2	85.0	56.5	0.5	3.1	1.7	18,495	2,901	3,323	691	210	1,408	1,432	+198
6	LeBron James L. James	13,936	720	21.3	19.4	5.8	6.3	1.0	0.5	7.4	14.1	52.7	1.4	3.9	36.7	3.1	4.3	71.7	60.6	0.8	5.0	2.8	15,354	4,182	4,512	691	345	2,046	936	+1169
7	Anthony Davis A. Davis	13,315	662	21.8	20.1	8.5	2.4	1.1	1.8	7.6	14.5	52.6	0.4	1.4	29.6	4.4	5.6	79.9	59.3	2.0	6.5	1.8	14,403	5,654	1,556	719	1,201	1,173	1,249	+798
8	Russell Westbrook R. Westbrook	13,110	802	20.2	16.3	6.2	7.0	1.2	0.3	6.0	13.5	44.1	1.0	3.1	30.9	3.4	4.6	75.2	52.6	1.2	5.0	3.3	16,213	4,952	5,574	982	203	2,633	1,641	+506
9	Devin Booker D. Booker	13,065	675	24.7	19.4	3.2	4.2	0.7	0.2	6.9	14.6	47.1	1.7	4.6	36.4	3.9	4.5	87.9	58.4	0.5	2.7	2.4	16,674	2,166	2,861	449	145	1,649	1,662	+421
10	Nikola Jokić N. Jokić	12,960	748	23.2	17.3	8.9	6.1	1.1	0.6	6.8	12.0	56.6	0.9	2.4	36.3	2.9	3.5	83.3	64.2	2.1	6.8	2.4	17,386	6,654	4,564	796	428	1,780	1,658	+3168
11	Kevin Durant K. Durant	12,602	585	23.6	21.5	5.7	4.4	0.7	1.0	7.7	14.5	53.2	1.7	4.3	40.3	4.3	4.9	88.5	64.5	0.4	5.3	2.5	13,796	3,320	2,564	425	576	1,489	946	+2501
12	Nikola Vučević N. Vučević	11,970	791	20.9	15.1	8.6	2.7	0.7	0.7	6.5	12.9	50.3	0.9	2.6	35.4	1.2	1.5	79.5	55.7	1.9	6.7	1.4	16,532	6,808	2,121	575	519	1,102	1,400	-631
13	Bradley Beal B. Beal	11,611	674	22.4	17.2	3.0	3.6	0.9	0.3	6.4	13.4	48.1	1.7	4.4	38.6	2.6	3.2	83.5	58.3	0.6	2.4	1.9	15,070	2,055	2,444	614	231	1,306	1,197	-195
14	Karl-Anthony Towns K. Towns	11,588	649	22.8	17.9	8.5	2.5	0.6	0.9	6.6	12.5	53.0	1.3	3.1	41.4	3.3	3.9	84.0	62.8	2.1	6.4	2.1	14,801	5,508	1,622	420	566	1,377	1,859	+1294
15	CJ McCollum	11,555	747	21.2	15.5	2.8	3.0	0.7	0.3	5.9	13.0	45.6	2.0	5.1	39.9	1.5	1.9	80.3	55.7	0.5	2.4	1.4	15,824	2,105	2,268	536	248	1,045	1,186	+294
16	Andrew Wiggins A. Wiggins	11,302	770	20.6	14.7	3.4	1.9	0.8	0.5	5.5	12.2	45.3	1.2	3.3	36.7	2.4	3.3	73.4	53.9	1.0	2.5	1.5	15,854	2,655	1,441	599	419	1,126	1,322	+433
17	Tobias Harris T. Harris	11,187	817	21.3	13.7	4.9	2.2	0.7	0.5	5.3	11.1	48.0	1.2	3.4	36.7	1.8	2.1	84.5	56.9	0.7	4.2	1.2	17,386	4,021	1,767	572	369	942	1,325	+544
18	Paul George P. George	11,055	622	23.0	17.8	4.9	3.3	1.4	0.3	6.2	13.8	44.7	2.4	6.0	39.7	3.1	3.6	86.1	57.8	0.6	4.3	2.3	14,307	3,039	2,048	856	204	1,418	1,373	+1759
19	Jimmy Butler III J. Butler III	10,942	683	21.9	16.0	4.6	4.3	1.4	0.3	5.3	10.9	48.9	0.6	1.8	34.3	4.8	5.6	85.4	60.2	1.4	3.2	1.4	14,969	3,146	2,911	967	224	964	784	+1992
20	Kyrie Irving K. Irving	10,930	598	21.3	18.3	3.3	4.4	1.0	0.4	6.9	14.2	48.6	2.0	4.9	41.1	2.5	2.8	89.1	59.3	0.6	2.6	1.8	12,738	1,947	2,660	601	212	1,103	1,067	+1430
21	Julius Randle J. Randle	10,843	715	22.6	15.2	7.1	3.1	0.5	0.3	5.6	12.0	46.5	1.0	3.1	33.7	3.0	3.9	76.4	55.4	1.4	5.7	2.3	16,184	5,099	2,246	370	205	1,618	1,780	-402
22	Jayson Tatum J. Tatum	10,701	585	26.6	18.3	5.7	3.1	0.8	0.5	6.5	14.0	46.2	2.2	5.8	37.2	3.2	3.8	84.0	58.4	0.6	5.1	1.8	15,589	3,355	1,793	495	295	1,057	1,089	+2855
23	Luka Dončić L. Dončić	10,579	452	27.7	23.4	6.9	6.8	1.0	0.4	7.9	16.8	47.1	2.5	7.1	35.7	5.1	6.7	75.6	59.3	0.8	6.1	3.3	12,505	3,118	3,053	454	164	1,505	900	+1093
24	Klay Thompson K. Thompson	10,199	641	18.2	15.9	2.8	1.9	0.6	0.4	6.0	12.9	46.2	2.7	6.4	41.9	1.3	1.5	87.0	58.5	0.4	2.4	1.3	11,650	1,792	1,197	403	244	829	871	+1463
25	Kawhi Leonard K. Leonard	10,196	549	20.1	18.6	5.2	2.9	1.4	0.5	6.8	13.5	50.4	1.6	3.8	41.1	3.4	4.0	86.8	61.0	0.9	4.3	1.5	11,059	2,844	1,609	784	290	814	740	+2071