Dwight Howard vs. Chris Paul: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Chris Paul and Dwight Howard 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.

Chris Paul is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points and here we compare his scoring stats with those recorded by Dwight Howard.

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Chris Paul has better scoring stats than Dwight Howard 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 20 NBA regular seasons played, Chris Paul averages 1.3 points more than Dwight Howard in his 18 seasons (17.0 points against 15.7), and he also scored a total of 3,526 points more (23,011 vs. 19,485).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Dwight Howard 15.7
18
Chris Paul 17.0
+1.3
20

Total Points

Seasons
Dwight Howard 19,485
18
Chris Paul 23,011
+3,526
20

Points in the Playoffs

Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Chris Paul has a better career point average than Dwight Howard (+4.7 points per game) and he also scored more points (+1,072).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Dwight Howard 15.3
12
Chris Paul 20.0
+4.7
15

Total Points

Playoffs
Dwight Howard 1,909
12
Chris Paul 2,981
+1,072
15

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

40+ Point Games

Dwight Howard 4
Chris Paul 8
+4

30+ Point Games

Dwight Howard 69
Chris Paul 77
+8

20+ Point Games

Dwight Howard 391
Chris Paul 472
+81

10+ Point Games

Dwight Howard 955
Chris Paul 1,133
+178

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Dwight Howard 1,227
Chris Paul 1,350
+123

0 Point Games (games without points)

Dwight Howard 15
+11
Chris Paul 4

Playoffs

40+ Point Games

Dwight Howard 2
Chris Paul 2

30+ Point Games

Dwight Howard 9
Chris Paul 18
+9

20+ Point Games

Dwight Howard 42
Chris Paul 74
+32

10+ Point Games

Dwight Howard 86
Chris Paul 134
+48

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Dwight Howard 121
Chris Paul 149
+28

0 Point Games (games without points)

Dwight Howard 4
+4
Chris Paul 0

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

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Regular Season

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Dwight Howard 15.7 5.7 9.7 58.7 0.0 0.1 21.4 4.3 7.6 56.7 18 1,242
difference:+1.3+0.3+3.1+11.7+1.4+3.6+15.6+0.7+3.5+30.4+2+112
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
Dwight Howard 19,485 7,051 12,016 58.7 22 103 21.4 5,361 9,455 56.7 18 1,242
difference:+3,526+1,096+5,336+11.7+1,838+4,926+15.6+504+3,876+30.4+2+112
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
Dwight Howard 15.3 5.4 9.2 58.9 0.0 0.1 14.3 4.4 8.0 54.8 12 125
difference:+4.7+2.0+6.1+10.5+1.6+4.3+23.0+0.9+3.9+30.6+3+24
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
Dwight Howard 1,909 681 1,156 58.9 1 7 14.3 546 997 54.8 12 125
difference:+1,072+425+1,131+10.5+243+647+23.0+21+382+30.6+3+24
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 Champion = NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 12.0
200582
Chris Paul 16.1
+4.1
200678

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 15.8
200682
Chris Paul 17.3
+1.5
200764

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 17.6
200782
Chris Paul 21.1
+3.5
200880

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 20.7
200882
Chris Paul 22.8
+2.1
200978

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 20.6
+1.9
200979
Chris Paul 18.7
201045

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 18.3
+2.4
201082
Chris Paul 15.9
201180

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 22.9
+3.1
201178
Chris Paul 19.8
201260

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 20.6
+3.7
201254
Chris Paul 16.9
201370

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 17.1
201376
Chris Paul 19.1
+2.0
201462

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 18.3
201471
Chris Paul 19.1
+0.8
201582

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 15.8
201541
Chris Paul 19.5
+3.7
201674

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 13.7
201671
Chris Paul 18.1
+4.4
201761

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 13.5
201774
Chris Paul 18.6
+5.1
201858

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 16.6
+1.0
201881
Chris Paul 15.6
201958

Season 15

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 12.8
20199
Chris Paul 17.6
+4.8
202070

Season 16

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 7.5
2020NBA Champion69
Chris Paul 16.4
+8.9
202170

Season 17

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 7.0
202169
Chris Paul 14.7
+7.7
202265

Season 18

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 6.2
202260
Chris Paul 13.9
+7.7
202359

Chris Paul's additional seasons:

* Chris Paul played 2 seasons more than Dwight Howard in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 19 to 20, from 2024 to 2025—he averaged 9.0 points in a total of 140 regular season games.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard -
DNP
20050
Chris Paul -
DNP
20060

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard -
DNP
20060
Chris Paul -
DNP
20070

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 15.3
20074
Chris Paul 24.1
+8.8
200812

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 18.9
+2.3
200810
Chris Paul 16.6
20095

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 20.3
+20.3
200923
Chris Paul -
DNP
20100

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 18.1
201014
Chris Paul 22.0
+3.9
20116

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 27.0
+9.4
20116
Chris Paul 17.6
201211

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard -
DNP
20120
Chris Paul 22.8
+22.8
20136

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 17.0
20134
Chris Paul 19.8
+2.8
201413

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 26.0
+3.9
20146
Chris Paul 22.1
201512

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 16.4
201517
Chris Paul 23.8
+7.4
20164

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 13.2
20165
Chris Paul 25.3
+12.1
20177

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 8.0
20176
Chris Paul 21.1
+13.1
201815

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard -
DNP
20180
Chris Paul 17.0
+17.0
201911

Season 15

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard -
DNP
20190
Chris Paul 21.3
+21.3
20207

Season 16

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 5.8
2020NBA Champion18
Chris Paul 19.2
+13.4
202120

Season 17

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard 4.7
202112
Chris Paul 17.5
+12.8
202213

Season 18

Points per gameYearGames
Dwight Howard -
DNP
20220
Chris Paul 12.4
+12.4
20237

Chris Paul's additional Playoffs:

* During his 2 additional NBA seasons, Chris Paul didn't play in the postseason.