Chris Paul vs. Karl-Anthony Towns: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Karl-Anthony Towns and Chris Paul 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
Chris Paul is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points while Karl-Anthony Towns has one of the highest career averages in league history, and here we compare all their scoring stats.
By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Chris Paul scored more total points both in the regular season and Playoffs and also has a better playoff average while Karl-Anthony Towns has a better scoring average in the regular season. 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 10 NBA regular seasons played, Karl-Anthony Towns averages 6.1 points more than Chris Paul in his 20 seasons (23.1 points against 17.0). On the other hand Chris Paul scored a total of 8,131 points more than Karl-Anthony Towns (23,011 vs. 14,880).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Chris Paul | 17.0 | 20 | |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 23.1 | +6.1 | 10 |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Chris Paul | 23,011 | +8,131 | 20 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 14,880 | 10 | |
Points in the Playoffs
In the NBA postseason Chris Paul has a better career point average than Karl-Anthony Towns (+0.2 points per game) and he also scored more points (+1,992).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Chris Paul | 20.0 | +0.2 | 15 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 19.8 | 5 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Chris Paul | 2,981 | +1,992 | 15 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 989 | 5 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
60+ Point Games | ||||
| Chris Paul | 0 | |||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 2 | +2 | ||
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Chris Paul | 0 | |||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 3 | +3 | ||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Chris Paul | 472 | +39 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 433 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Chris Paul | 1,133 | +507 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 626 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Chris Paul | 1,350 | +705 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 645 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Chris Paul | 4 | +4 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 0 | |||
Playoffs
40+ Point Games | ||||
| Chris Paul | 2 | +2 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Chris Paul | 74 | +47 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 27 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Chris Paul | 134 | +87 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 47 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Chris Paul | 149 | +99 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 50 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Chris Paul | 0 | |||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 0 | |||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Chris Paul | 17.0 | 6.0 | 12.8 | 47.0 | 1.4 | 3.7 | 37.0 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 87.1 | 20 | 1,354 |
| difference: | +6.1 | +2.5 | +3.4 | +5.4 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +3.0 | +0.8 | +1.2 | +3.4 | +10 | +709 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 23.1 | 8.5 | 16.2 | 52.4 | 1.7 | 4.3 | 40.0 | 4.4 | 5.3 | 83.7 | 10 | 645 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Chris Paul | 23,011 | 8,147 | 17,352 | 47.0 | 1,860 | 5,029 | 37.0 | 4,857 | 5,579 | 87.1 | 20 | 1,354 |
| difference: | +8,131 | +2,687 | +6,928 | +5.4 | +743 | +2,239 | +3.0 | +2,014 | +2,184 | +3.4 | +10 | +709 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 14,880 | 5,460 | 10,424 | 52.4 | 1,117 | 2,790 | 40.0 | 2,843 | 3,395 | 83.7 | 10 | 645 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Chris Paul | 20.0 | 7.4 | 15.3 | 48.4 | 1.6 | 4.4 | 37.3 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 85.4 | 15 | 149 |
| difference: | +0.2 | +0.5 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +2.3 | +0.9 | +1.2 | +2.3 | +10 | +99 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 19.8 | 6.9 | 14.5 | 47.6 | 1.5 | 4.3 | 35.0 | 4.4 | 5.3 | 83.1 | 5 | 50 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Chris Paul | 2,981 | 1,106 | 2,287 | 48.4 | 244 | 654 | 37.3 | 525 | 615 | 85.4 | 15 | 149 |
| difference: | +1,992 | +760 | +1,560 | +0.8 | +169 | +440 | +2.3 | +303 | +348 | +2.3 | +10 | +99 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 989 | 346 | 727 | 47.6 | 75 | 214 | 35.0 | 222 | 267 | 83.1 | 5 | 50 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
Regular Season
Chris Paul's additional seasons: | ||||
* Chris Paul played 10 seasons more than Karl-Anthony Towns in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 11 to 20, from 2016 to 2025—he averaged 15.2 points in a total of 655 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 19.5 ppg and his lowest 8.8. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Chris Paul | - | DNP | 2006 | 0 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | - | DNP | 2016 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Chris Paul | - | DNP | 2007 | 0 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | - | DNP | 2017 | 0 |
Season 4 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Chris Paul | 16.6 | +16.6 | 2009 | 5 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | - | DNP | 2019 | 0 |
Season 5 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Chris Paul | - | DNP | 2010 | 0 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | - | DNP | 2020 | 0 |
Season 6 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Chris Paul | 22.0 | +22.0 | 2011 | 6 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | - | DNP | 2021 | 0 |
Chris Paul's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* During his 10 additional NBA seasons, Chris Paul played in 8 Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 19.3 points in a total of 84 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 25.3 ppg and his lowest 12.4. |