Dirk Nowitzki vs. Chris Paul: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Chris Paul and Dirk Nowitzki 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
Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Paul are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 54,571 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 Dirk Nowitzki has better scoring stats than Chris Paul 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.
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 21 NBA regular seasons played, Dirk Nowitzki averages 3.7 points more than Chris Paul in his 20 seasons (20.7 points against 17.0), and he also scored a total of 8,549 points more (31,560 vs. 23,011).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 20.7 | +3.7 | 21 |
| Chris Paul | 17.0 | 20 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 31,560 | +8,549 | 21 |
| Chris Paul | 23,011 | 20 | |
Points in the Playoffs
Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Dirk Nowitzki has a better career point average than Chris Paul (+5.3 points per game) and he also scored more points (+682).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 25.3 | +5.3 | 15 |
| Chris Paul | 20.0 | 15 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 3,663 | +682 | 15 |
| Chris Paul | 2,981 | 15 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 2 | +2 | ||
| Chris Paul | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 861 | +389 | ||
| Chris Paul | 472 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 1,373 | +240 | ||
| Chris Paul | 1,133 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 1,509 | +159 | ||
| Chris Paul | 1,350 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 13 | +9 | ||
| Chris Paul | 4 | |||
Playoffs
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 1 | +1 | ||
| Chris Paul | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 109 | +35 | ||
| Chris Paul | 74 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 142 | +8 | ||
| Chris Paul | 134 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 145 | |||
| Chris Paul | 149 | +4 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 0 | |||
| Chris Paul | 0 | |||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 20.7 | 7.3 | 15.6 | 47.1 | 1.3 | 3.4 | 38.0 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 87.9 | 21 | 1,522 |
| difference: | +3.7 | +1.3 | +2.8 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +1.0 | +1.2 | +1.3 | +0.8 | +1 | +168 |
| 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 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 31,560 | 11,169 | 23,734 | 47.1 | 1,982 | 5,210 | 38.0 | 7,240 | 8,239 | 87.9 | 21 | 1,522 |
| difference: | +8,549 | +3,022 | +6,382 | +0.1 | +122 | +181 | +1.0 | +2,383 | +2,660 | +0.8 | +1 | +168 |
| 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 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 25.3 | 8.4 | 18.2 | 46.2 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 36.5 | 7.4 | 8.3 | 89.2 | 15 | 145 |
| difference: | +5.3 | +1.0 | +2.9 | +2.2 | +0.6 | +1.6 | +0.8 | +3.9 | +4.2 | +3.8 | +4 | |
| Chris Paul | 20.0 | 7.4 | 15.3 | 48.4 | 1.6 | 4.4 | 37.3 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 85.4 | 15 | 149 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 3,663 | 1,220 | 2,642 | 46.2 | 149 | 408 | 36.5 | 1,074 | 1,204 | 89.2 | 15 | 145 |
| difference: | +682 | +114 | +355 | +2.2 | +95 | +246 | +0.8 | +549 | +589 | +3.8 | +4 | |
| Chris Paul | 2,981 | 1,106 | 2,287 | 48.4 | 244 | 654 | 37.3 | 525 | 615 | 85.4 | 15 | 149 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Dirk Nowitzki's additional seasons: | ||||
* Dirk Nowitzki played 1 season more than Chris Paul in the NBA. In that year—his season 21 in 2019—he averaged 7.3 points in a total of 51 regular season games. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 1999 | 0 |
| Chris Paul | - | DNP | 2006 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2000 | 0 |
| Chris Paul | - | DNP | 2007 | 0 |
Season 5 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 25.3 | +25.3 | 2003 | 17 |
| Chris Paul | - | DNP | 2010 | 0 |
Season 15 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2013 | 0 |
| Chris Paul | 21.3 | +21.3 | 2020 | 7 |
Season 19 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2017 | 0 |
| Chris Paul | - | DNP | 2024 | 0 |
Season 20 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2018 | 0 |
| Chris Paul | - | DNP | 2025 | 0 |
Dirk Nowitzki's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* In his additional NBA year, Dirk Nowitzki didn't play in the postseason. |