DeMarcus Cousins vs. James Harden: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of James Harden and DeMarcus Cousins 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.

James Harden is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points and also has one of the highest career averages in league history, and here we compare his scoring stats with those recorded by DeMarcus Cousins.

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that James Harden has better scoring stats than DeMarcus Cousins in averages and totals, both in the regular season and Playoffs. 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.

Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?

Points in the Regular Season

In his 16 NBA regular seasons played, James Harden averages 4.5 points more than DeMarcus Cousins in his 11 seasons (24.1 points against 19.6), and he also scored a total of 14,885 points more (27,687 vs. 12,802).

Points Per Game			Seasons
DeMarcus Cousins	19.6		11
James Harden	24.1	+4.5	16

Total Points			Seasons
DeMarcus Cousins	12,802		11
James Harden	27,687	+14,885	16

Scoring Titles
DeMarcus Cousins	0
James Harden	3	+3

Points by Thresholds

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

= NBA Scoring Leader

Regular Season

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	14.1	+4.2	2011	81
James Harden	9.9		2010	76

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	18.1	+5.9	2012	64
James Harden	12.2		2011	82

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	17.1	+0.3	2013	75
James Harden	16.8		2012	62

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	22.7		2014	71
James Harden	25.9	+3.2	2013	78

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	24.1		2015	59
James Harden	25.4	+1.3	2014	73

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	26.9		2016	65
James Harden	27.4	+0.5	2015	81

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	27.0		2017	72
James Harden	29.0	+2.0	2016	82

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	27.0		2017	72
James Harden	29.1	+2.1	2017	81

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	25.2		2018	48
James Harden	30.4	+5.2	2018	72

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	16.3		2019	30
James Harden	36.1	+19.8	2019	78

Season 11	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	8.9		2021	41
James Harden	34.3	+25.4	2020	68

Season 12	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	9.0		2022	48
James Harden	24.6	+15.6	2021	44

James Harden's additional seasons:

* James Harden played 4 seasons more than DeMarcus Cousins in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 13 to 16, from 2022 to 2025—he averaged 20.6 points in a total of 274 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 22.8 ppg and his lowest 16.6.