Carmelo Anthony vs. Paul Pierce: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Paul Pierce and Carmelo Anthony to determine who has the better numbers. Here you can compare their career totals, points per game, games of 40+ points, 50+, etc. and their year-by-year scoring averages side by side, both in the Regular Season and Playoffs.
Career comparison / Season by season / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings / Games against each other
Carmelo Anthony and Paul Pierce are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 54,686 points—. Here we compare their scoring stats.
By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Carmelo Anthony has better scoring averages both in the regular season and Playoffs and also scored more total points during the season while Paul Pierce scored more points in the postseason. However, we won't stop there and we'll go into detail to analyze what these statistics are made up of, from how many games they had in each threshold (30+ points, 40+, 50+, etc.) to their season-by-season scoring averages.
On this page we compare: |
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Who has better scoring stats? Career Numbers |
Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?
Points in the Regular Season
In his 19 NBA regular seasons played, Carmelo Anthony averages 2.8 points more than Paul Pierce in his 19 seasons (22.5 points against 19.7), and he also scored a total of 1,892 points more (28,289 vs. 26,397).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Carmelo Anthony | 22.5 | +2.8 | 19 |
| Paul Pierce | 19.7 | 19 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Carmelo Anthony | 28,289 | +1,892 | 19 |
| Paul Pierce | 26,397 | 19 | |
Scoring Titles | ||
| Carmelo Anthony | 1 |  +1 |
| Paul Pierce | 0 | |
Points in the Playoffs
In the NBA postseason Carmelo Anthony has a better career point average than Paul Pierce (+4.4 points per game) while Paul Pierce scored more points (+1,266).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Carmelo Anthony | 23.1 | +4.4 | 13 |
| Paul Pierce | 18.7 | 14 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Carmelo Anthony | 1,914 | 13 | |
| Paul Pierce | 3,180 | +1,266 | 14 |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
60+ Point Games | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 1 | +1 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 796 | +128 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 668 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 1,162 | +1 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 1,161 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 1,257 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 1,322 | +65 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 3 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 21 | +18 | ||
Playoffs
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 54 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 73 | +19 | ||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 77 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 148 | +71 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 83 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 165 | +82 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 0 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 5 | +5 | ||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 22.5 | 8.0 | 18.0 | 44.7 | 1.4 | 3.9 | 35.5 | 5.0 | 6.2 | 81.4 | 19 | 1,260 |
| difference: | +2.8 | +1.5 | +3.5 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +1.3 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.8 | +83 | |
| Paul Pierce | 19.7 | 6.5 | 14.5 | 44.5 | 1.6 | 4.3 | 36.8 | 5.2 | 6.4 | 80.6 | 19 | 1,343 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 28,289 | 10,119 | 22,643 | 44.7 | 1,731 | 4,873 | 35.5 | 6,320 | 7,764 | 81.4 | 19 | 1,260 |
| difference: | +1,892 | +1,451 | +3,178 | +0.2 | +412 | +943 | +1.3 | +598 | +814 | +0.8 | +83 | |
| Paul Pierce | 26,397 | 8,668 | 19,465 | 44.5 | 2,143 | 5,816 | 36.8 | 6,918 | 8,578 | 80.6 | 19 | 1,343 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 23.1 | 8.1 | 19.4 | 41.4 | 1.2 | 3.8 | 32.4 | 5.7 | 6.9 | 82.6 | 13 | 83 |
| difference: | +4.4 | +2.1 | +5.2 | +0.9 | +0.4 | +0.8 | +3.1 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +0.4 | +1 | +87 |
| Paul Pierce | 18.7 | 6.0 | 14.2 | 42.3 | 1.6 | 4.6 | 35.5 | 5.1 | 6.1 | 83.0 | 14 | 170 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 1,914 | 669 | 1,614 | 41.4 | 101 | 312 | 32.4 | 475 | 575 | 82.6 | 13 | 83 |
| difference: | +1,266 | +353 | +801 | +0.9 | +175 | +465 | +3.1 | +385 | +461 | +0.4 | +1 | +87 |
| Paul Pierce | 3,180 | 1,022 | 2,415 | 42.3 | 276 | 777 | 35.5 | 860 | 1,036 | 83.0 | 14 | 170 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA Scoring Leader
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | 15.0 | +15.0 | 2004 | 4 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 1999 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | 19.2 | +19.2 | 2005 | 5 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2000 | 0 |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | 21.0 | +21.0 | 2006 | 5 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2001 | 0 |
Season 8 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | 26.0 | +26.0 | 2011 | 4 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2006 | 0 |
Season 9 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | 27.8 | +27.8 | 2012 | 5 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2007 | 0 |
Season 11 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | - | DNP | 2014 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 21.0 | +21.0 | 2009 | 14 |
Season 12 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | - | DNP | 2015 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 18.8 | +18.8 | 2010 | 24 |
Season 13 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | - | DNP | 2016 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 20.8 | +20.8 | 2011 | 9 |
Season 14 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | - | DNP | 2017 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 18.9 | +18.9 | 2012 | 20 |
Season 16 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | - | DNP | 2019 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 13.7 | +13.7 | 2014 | 12 |
Season 19 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | - | DNP | 2022 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 3.0 | +3.0 | 2017 | 7 |