Dave Cowens vs. Patrick Ewing Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Patrick Ewing and Dave Cowens, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Who had the better rookie season? Who had best stats in their 10th season? Who won a championship first? These questions and many others, are answered here.

Dave Cowens played 11 years in the NBA, 6 less than Patrick Ewing, who played 17. Dave Cowens had the first of his seasons in 1970-71, while Patrick Ewing had his rookie season in 1985-86. With that starting point, here you can take a look at each of their seasons side by side and compare how their careers evolved in achievements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Rookie Season
	Dave Cowens	Patrick Ewing
Season	1970-71	1985-86
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	81	38.0	17.0	-	-	15.0	2.8	-	-	-	4.3	6.8	16.1	.422	-	-	-	3.4	4.6	.732
difference:	+31	+2.6	+3.0			+6.0	+0.8				-0.5	+0.9	+0.2	+.052				+1.1	+1.5	+.007
Patrick Ewing	50	35.4	20.0	2.5	6.5	9.0	2.0	1.1	2.1	3.4	3.8	7.7	16.3	.474	0.0	0.1	.000	4.5	6.1	.739
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Dave Cowens nor Patrick Ewing played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Dave Cowens	Patrick Ewing
Season	1971-72	1986-87
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Did Not Play

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2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	79	40.3	18.8	-	-	15.2	3.1	-	-	-	4.0	8.3	17.2	.484	-	-	-	2.2	3.1	.720
difference:	+16	+5.3	+2.7			+6.4	+1.4				-0.1	+0.1	+0.5	+.019				+2.5	+3.5	+.007
Patrick Ewing	63	35.0	21.5	2.5	6.3	8.8	1.7	1.4	2.3	3.6	3.9	8.4	16.7	.503	0.0	0.1	.000	4.7	6.6	.713
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	11	40.1	15.5	-	-	13.8	3.0	-	-	-	4.5	6.5	14.2	.455	-	-	-	2.5	4.3	.596
Patrick Ewing	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Dave Cowens	Patrick Ewing
Season	1972-73	1987-88
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Knicks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	82	41.8	20.5	-	-	16.2	4.1	-	-	-	3.8	9.0	20.0	.452	-	-	-	2.5	3.2	.779
difference:		+10.8	+0.3			+8.0	+2.6				-0.2	+1.0	+5.6	+.103				+1.7	+2.6	+.063
Patrick Ewing	82	31.0	20.2	3.0	5.3	8.2	1.5	1.3	3.0	3.5	4.0	8.0	14.4	.555	0.0	0.0	-	4.2	5.8	.716
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	13	46.0	21.9	-	-	16.6	3.7	-	-	-	4.2	9.9	21.0	.473	-	-	-	2.1	3.2	.659
difference:	+9	+7.7	+3.1			+3.8	+1.2				-0.1	+2.9	+6.7	+.018				+2.7	+2.3	+.205
Patrick Ewing	4	38.3	18.8	4.0	8.8	12.8	2.5	1.5	3.3	2.8	4.3	7.0	14.3	.491	0.0	0.3	.000	4.8	5.5	.864

Season 4
	Dave Cowens	Patrick Ewing
Season	1973-74	1988-89
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis

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4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	80	41.9	19.0	3.3	12.4	15.7	4.4	1.2	1.3	-	3.7	8.1	18.4	.437	-	-	-	2.9	3.4	.832
difference:		+5.7	+3.7	+0.6	+5.8	+6.4	+2.0	+0.3	+2.2		-0.2	+1.0	+2.4	+.130				+1.6	+2.7	+.086
Patrick Ewing	80	36.2	22.7	2.7	6.6	9.3	2.4	1.5	3.5	3.3	3.9	9.1	16.0	.567	0.0	0.1	.000	4.5	6.1	.746
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	18	42.9	20.5	3.3	10.0	13.3	3.7	1.2	0.9	-	4.7	8.9	20.6	.435	-	-	-	2.6	3.3	.797
difference:	+9	+5.1	+0.6	+0.7	+2.6	+3.3	+1.5	+0.2	+1.1		-0.8	+1.1	+4.6	+.051				+1.7	+2.5	+.047
Patrick Ewing	9	37.8	19.9	2.6	7.4	10.0	2.2	1.0	2.0	1.7	3.9	7.8	16.0	.486	0.0	0.0	-	4.3	5.8	.750

Season 5
	Dave Cowens	Patrick Ewing
Season	1974-75	1989-90
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis

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5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	65	40.5	20.4	3.5	11.2	14.7	4.6	1.3	1.1	-	3.7	8.8	18.4	.475	-	-	-	2.9	3.8	.783
difference:	+17	+1.9	+8.2	+0.6	+3.2	+3.8	+2.4	+0.3	+2.9		-0.3	+2.4	+2.0	+.076				+3.2	+4.1	+.008
Patrick Ewing	82	38.6	28.6	2.9	8.0	10.9	2.2	1.0	4.0	3.4	4.0	11.2	20.4	.551	0.0	0.0	-	6.1	7.9	.775
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	11	43.5	20.5	4.5	12.0	16.5	4.2	1.6	0.5	-	4.5	9.2	21.5	.428	-	-	-	2.1	2.4	.885
difference:	+1	+4.0	+8.9	+2.4	+3.6	+6.0	+1.1	+0.3	+1.5		-0.4	+2.2	+0.4	+.093				+4.4	+5.5	+.062
Patrick Ewing	10	39.5	29.4	2.1	8.4	10.5	3.1	1.3	2.0	2.7	4.1	11.4	21.9	.521	0.1	0.2	.500	6.5	7.9	.823

Season 6
	Dave Cowens	Patrick Ewing
Season	1975-76	1990-91
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Knicks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	78	39.8	19.0	4.3	11.7	16.0	4.2	1.2	0.9	-	4.0	7.8	16.7	.468	-	-	-	3.3	4.4	.756
difference:	+3	+1.5	+7.6	+1.9	+2.9	+4.8	+1.2	+0.2	+2.3		-0.5	+2.6	+3.6	+.046				+2.4	+3.3	+.011
Patrick Ewing	81	38.3	26.6	2.4	8.8	11.2	3.0	1.0	3.2	3.6	3.5	10.4	20.3	.514	0.0	0.1	.000	5.7	7.7	.745
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	18	44.3	21.0	4.8	11.6	16.4	4.6	1.2	0.7	-	4.7	8.7	18.9	.457	-	-	-	3.7	4.8	.759
difference:	+15	+7.6	+4.3	+4.1	+2.3	+6.4	+2.6	+0.9	+1.0		-0.7	+2.7	+3.9	+.057				+1.0	+1.2	+.019
Patrick Ewing	3	36.7	16.7	0.7	9.3	10.0	2.0	0.3	1.7	3.7	4.0	6.0	15.0	.400	0.0	0.0	-	4.7	6.0	.778

Season 7
	Dave Cowens	Patrick Ewing
Season	1976-77	1991-92
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis

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7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	50	37.8	16.4	2.9	11.0	13.9	5.0	0.9	1.0	-	3.6	6.6	15.1	.434	-	-	-	3.2	4.0	.818
difference:	+32	+0.6	+7.6	+0.1	+2.5	+2.7	+3.1	+0.2	+2.0		-0.2	+3.1	+3.5	+.088				+1.4	+2.2	+.080
Patrick Ewing	82	38.4	24.0	2.8	8.5	11.2	1.9	1.1	3.0	2.5	3.4	9.7	18.6	.522	0.0	0.1	.167	4.6	6.2	.738
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	9	42.1	16.6	3.2	11.7	14.9	4.0	0.9	1.4	-	4.1	7.3	16.4	.446	-	-	-	1.9	2.4	.773
difference:	+3	+1.9	+6.1	+0.4	+3.4	+3.8	+1.7	+0.3	+1.2			+1.8	+3.5	+.010				+2.6	+3.7	+.033
Patrick Ewing	12	40.2	22.7	2.8	8.3	11.1	2.3	0.6	2.6	1.9	4.1	9.1	19.9	.456	0.0	0.1	.000	4.5	6.1	.740

Season 8
	Dave Cowens	Patrick Ewing
Season	1977-78	1992-93
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Knicks Lost East Conf Finals

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8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	77	41.8	18.6	3.2	10.8	14.0	4.6	1.3	0.9	2.8	3.9	7.8	15.8	.490	-	-	-	3.1	3.7	.842
difference:	+4	+4.7	+5.6	+0.8	+1.1	+1.9	+2.7	+0.4	+1.1	-0.5	-0.4	+1.8	+3.3	+.013				+1.8	+3.2	+.123
Patrick Ewing	81	37.1	24.2	2.4	9.7	12.1	1.9	0.9	2.0	3.3	3.5	9.6	19.1	.503	0.0	0.1	.143	4.9	6.9	.719
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Patrick Ewing	15	40.3	25.5	2.9	8.1	10.9	2.4	1.1	2.1	2.6	4.0	11.0	21.5	.512	0.1	0.1	1.000	3.4	5.3	.638

Season 9
	Dave Cowens	Patrick Ewing
Season	1978-79	1993-94
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Knicks Lost NBA Finals

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9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	68	37.0	16.6	2.2	7.4	9.6	3.6	1.1	0.8	2.6	3.9	7.2	14.9	.483	-	-	-	2.2	2.8	.807
difference:	+11	+0.6	+7.9	+0.6	+1.0	+1.6	+1.3		+1.9	-0.7	-0.4	+2.2	+4.1	+.013				+3.4	+4.6	+.042
Patrick Ewing	79	37.6	24.5	2.8	8.4	11.2	2.3	1.1	2.7	3.3	3.5	9.4	19.0	.496	0.1	0.2	.286	5.6	7.4	.765
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Patrick Ewing	25	41.3	21.9	3.5	8.2	11.7	2.6	1.3	3.0	3.3	3.8	8.4	19.2	.437	0.2	0.4	.364	4.9	6.5	.755

Season 10
	Dave Cowens	Patrick Ewing
Season	1979-80	1994-95
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis

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10th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	66	32.7	14.2	1.9	6.2	8.1	3.1	1.0	0.9	1.6	3.3	6.4	14.1	.453	0.0	0.2	.083	1.4	1.8	.779
difference:	+13	+4.3	+9.7	+0.1	+2.8	+2.9	+0.4	+0.1	+1.1	-1.6	-0.1	+2.8	+4.3	+.050	+0.1	+0.1	+.203	+3.9	+5.3	+.029
Patrick Ewing	79	37.0	23.9	2.0	9.0	11.0	2.7	0.9	2.0	3.2	3.4	9.2	18.4	.503	0.1	0.3	.286	5.3	7.1	.750
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	9	33.4	12.0	2.0	5.3	7.3	2.3	1.0	0.8	0.9	4.1	5.4	11.4	.476	0.0	0.2	.000	1.1	1.2	.909
difference:	+2	+2.9	+7.0	+0.5	+2.8	+2.3	+0.2	+0.5	+1.5	-1.8	-0.5	+1.9	+2.8	+.037	+0.1	+0.1	+.333	+3.3	+5.2	+.223
Patrick Ewing	11	36.3	19.0	1.5	8.1	9.6	2.5	0.5	2.3	2.7	4.6	7.3	14.2	.513	0.1	0.3	.333	4.4	6.4	.686

Note: Dave Cowens didn't play in 1980-81 and 1981-82.

Season 11
	Dave Cowens	Patrick Ewing
Season	1982-83	1995-96
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis

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11th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	40	25.4	8.1	1.8	5.0	6.9	2.1	0.8	0.4	1.1	3.4	3.4	7.7	.444	0.0	0.1	.000	1.3	1.6	.825
difference:	+36	+11.2	+14.4	+0.3	+3.5	+3.7		+0.1	+2.0	-1.8	-0.1	+5.5	+11.5	+.022	+0.1	+0.3	+.143	+3.3	+4.5	+.064
Patrick Ewing	76	36.6	22.5	2.1	8.5	10.6	2.1	0.9	2.4	2.9	3.3	8.9	19.2	.466	0.1	0.4	.143	4.6	6.1	.761
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Patrick Ewing	8	41.0	21.5	1.4	9.3	10.6	1.9	0.1	3.1	3.8	2.8	8.1	17.1	.474	0.1	0.3	.500	5.1	7.9	.651

Additional Years
* Patrick Ewing played 6 seasons more than Dave Cowens in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 12 to 17, from 1997 to 2002—Patrick Ewing played in 5 Playoffs. In those 6 extra years over Dave Cowens, Patrick Ewing got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-Star Game