Dirk Nowitzki vs. Paul Pierce: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Paul Pierce 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 Paul Pierce are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 57,957 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 Paul Pierce 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: |
|
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 1 point more than Paul Pierce in his 19 seasons (20.7 points against 19.7), and he also scored a total of 5,163 points more (31,560 vs. 26,397).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 20.7 | +1.0 | 21 |
| Paul Pierce | 19.7 | 19 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 31,560 | +5,163 | 21 |
| Paul Pierce | 26,397 | 19 | |
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 Paul Pierce (+6.6 points per game) and he also scored more points (+483).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 25.3 | +6.6 | 15 |
| Paul Pierce | 18.7 | 14 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 3,663 | +483 | 15 |
| Paul Pierce | 3,180 | 14 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 861 | +193 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 668 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 1,373 | +212 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 1,161 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 1,509 | +187 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 1,322 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 13 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 21 | +8 | ||
Playoffs
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 1 | +1 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 109 | +36 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 73 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 142 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 148 | +6 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 145 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 165 | +20 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 0 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 5 | +5 | ||
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: | +1.0 | +0.8 | +1.1 | +2.5 | +0.3 | +0.9 | +1.2 | +0.4 | +1.0 | +7.3 | +2 | +179 |
| 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 | ||||
| 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: | +5,163 | +2,501 | +4,269 | +2.5 | +161 | +606 | +1.2 | +322 | +339 | +7.3 | +2 | +179 |
| 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 | ||||
| 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: | +6.6 | +2.4 | +4.0 | +3.9 | +0.6 | +1.8 | +1.0 | +2.3 | +2.2 | +6.2 | +1 | +25 |
| 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 | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 3,663 | 1,220 | 2,642 | 46.2 | 149 | 408 | 36.5 | 1,074 | 1,204 | 89.2 | 15 | 145 |
| difference: | +483 | +198 | +227 | +3.9 | +127 | +369 | +1.0 | +214 | +168 | +6.2 | +1 | +25 |
| 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 ChampionRegular Season
Dirk Nowitzki's additional seasons: | ||||
- Dirk Nowitzki played 2 seasons more than Paul Pierce in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 20 to 21, from 2018 to 2019—he averaged 10.2 points in a total of 128 regular season games. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 1999 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 1999 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2000 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2000 | 0 |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 23.4 | +23.4 | 2001 | 10 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2001 | 0 |
Season 8 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 27.0 | +27.0 | 2006 | 23 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2006 | 0 |
Season 9 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 19.7 | +19.7 | 2007 | 6 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2007 | 0 |
Season 15 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2013 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 19.2 | +19.2 | 2013 | 6 |
Season 19 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2017 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 3.0 | +3.0 | 2017 | 7 |
Dirk Nowitzki's additional Playoffs: | ||||
- During his 2 additional NBA seasons, Dirk Nowitzki didn't play in the postseason. |