James Harden vs. Kevin Love: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Kevin Love and James Harden 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
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 Kevin Love.
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 Kevin Love 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 16 NBA regular seasons played, James Harden averages 7.9 points more than Kevin Love in his 17 seasons (24.1 points against 16.2), and he also scored a total of 12,266 points more (27,687 vs. 15,421).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| James Harden | 24.1 | +7.9 | 16 |
| Kevin Love | 16.2 | 17 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| James Harden | 27,687 | +12,266 | 16 |
| Kevin Love | 15,421 | 17 | |
Scoring Titles | ||
| James Harden | 3 |  +3 |
| Kevin Love | 0 | |
Points in the Playoffs
Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason James Harden has a better career point average than Kevin Love (+9.9 points per game) and he also scored more points (+2,783).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| James Harden | 22.5 | +9.9 | 16 |
| Kevin Love | 12.6 | 6 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| James Harden | 3,895 | +2,783 | 16 |
| Kevin Love | 1,112 | 6 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
60+ Point Games | ||||
| James Harden | 4 | +4 | ||
| Kevin Love | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| James Harden | 736 | +415 | ||
| Kevin Love | 321 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| James Harden | 1,053 | +331 | ||
| Kevin Love | 722 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| James Harden | 1,150 | +221 | ||
| Kevin Love | 929 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| James Harden | 1 | |||
| Kevin Love | 23 | +22 | ||
Playoffs
40+ Point Games | ||||
| James Harden | 11 | +11 | ||
| Kevin Love | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| James Harden | 101 | +81 | ||
| Kevin Love | 20 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| James Harden | 155 | +106 | ||
| Kevin Love | 49 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| James Harden | 170 | +87 | ||
| Kevin Love | 83 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| James Harden | 3 | |||
| Kevin Love | 5 | +2 | ||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| James Harden | 24.1 | 7.1 | 16.2 | 43.9 | 2.8 | 7.6 | 36.3 | 7.1 | 8.2 | 86.1 | 16 | 1,151 |
| difference: | +7.9 | +1.8 | +4.0 | +0.1 | +1.0 | +2.8 | +0.6 | +3.3 | +3.6 | +3.3 | +1 | +199 |
| Kevin Love | 16.2 | 5.3 | 12.2 | 43.8 | 1.8 | 4.8 | 36.9 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 82.8 | 17 | 952 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| James Harden | 27,687 | 8,174 | 18,610 | 43.9 | 3,175 | 8,750 | 36.3 | 8,164 | 9,478 | 86.1 | 16 | 1,151 |
| difference: | +12,266 | +3,100 | +7,026 | +0.1 | +1,501 | +4,208 | +0.6 | +4,565 | +5,132 | +3.3 | +1 | +199 |
| Kevin Love | 15,421 | 5,074 | 11,584 | 43.8 | 1,674 | 4,542 | 36.9 | 3,599 | 4,346 | 82.8 | 17 | 952 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| James Harden | 22.5 | 6.8 | 16.0 | 42.5 | 2.5 | 7.4 | 34.0 | 6.4 | 7.4 | 86.9 | 16 | 173 |
| difference: | +9.9 | +2.7 | +5.7 | +2.5 | +0.5 | +2.4 | +5.7 | +4.0 | +4.6 | +1.4 | +10 | +85 |
| Kevin Love | 12.6 | 4.1 | 10.3 | 40.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 39.7 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 85.5 | 6 | 88 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| James Harden | 3,895 | 1,173 | 2,760 | 42.5 | 434 | 1,275 | 34.0 | 1,115 | 1,283 | 86.9 | 16 | 173 |
| difference: | +2,783 | +811 | +1,856 | +2.5 | +259 | +834 | +5.7 | +902 | +1,034 | +1.4 | +10 | +85 |
| Kevin Love | 1,112 | 362 | 904 | 40.0 | 175 | 441 | 39.7 | 213 | 249 | 85.5 | 6 | 88 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA Scoring Leader
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Kevin Love's additional seasons: | ||||
* Kevin Love played 1 season more than James Harden in the NBA. In that year—his season 17 in 2025—he averaged 5.3 points in a total of 23 regular season games. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| James Harden | 7.7 | +7.7 | 2010 | 6 |
| Kevin Love | - | DNP | 2009 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| James Harden | 13.0 | +13.0 | 2011 | 17 |
| Kevin Love | - | DNP | 2010 | 0 |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| James Harden | 16.3 | +16.3 | 2012 | 20 |
| Kevin Love | - | DNP | 2011 | 0 |
Season 4 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| James Harden | 26.3 | +26.3 | 2013 | 6 |
| Kevin Love | - | DNP | 2012 | 0 |
Season 5 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| James Harden | 26.8 | +26.8 | 2014 | 6 |
| Kevin Love | - | DNP | 2013 | 0 |
Season 6 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| James Harden | 27.2 | +27.2 | 2015 | 17 |
| Kevin Love | - | DNP | 2014 | 0 |
Season 11 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| James Harden | 29.6 | +29.6 | 2020 | 12 |
| Kevin Love | - | DNP | 2019 | 0 |
Season 12 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| James Harden | 20.2 | +20.2 | 2021 | 9 |
| Kevin Love | - | DNP | 2020 | 0 |
Season 13 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| James Harden | 18.6 | +18.6 | 2022 | 12 |
| Kevin Love | - | DNP | 2021 | 0 |
Season 14 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| James Harden | 20.3 | +20.3 | 2023 | 11 |
| Kevin Love | - | DNP | 2022 | 0 |
Kevin Love's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* In his additional NBA year, Kevin Love didn't play in the postseason. |