James Harden vs. Paul Pierce: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Paul Pierce 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 and Paul Pierce are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 54,084 points—. James Harden is also one of the all-time leaders in points per game. 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 James Harden 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: |
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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 4.4 points more than Paul Pierce in his 19 seasons (24.1 points against 19.7), and he also scored a total of 1,290 points more (27,687 vs. 26,397).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| James Harden | 24.1 | +4.4 | 16 |
| Paul Pierce | 19.7 | 19 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| James Harden | 27,687 | +1,290 | 16 |
| Paul Pierce | 26,397 | 19 | |
Scoring Titles | ||
| James Harden | 3 |  +3 |
| Paul Pierce | 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 Paul Pierce (+3.8 points per game) and he also scored more points (+715).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| James Harden | 22.5 | +3.8 | 16 |
| Paul Pierce | 18.7 | 14 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| James Harden | 3,895 | +715 | 16 |
| Paul Pierce | 3,180 | 14 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
60+ Point Games | ||||
| James Harden | 4 | +4 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| James Harden | 736 | +68 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 668 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| James Harden | 1,053 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 1,161 | +108 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| James Harden | 1,150 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 1,322 | +172 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| James Harden | 1 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 21 | +20 | ||
Playoffs
20+ Point Games | ||||
| James Harden | 101 | +28 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 73 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| James Harden | 155 | +7 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 148 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| James Harden | 170 | +5 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 165 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| James Harden | 3 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 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: | +4.4 | +0.6 | +1.7 | +0.6 | +1.2 | +3.3 | +0.5 | +1.9 | +1.8 | +5.5 | +3 | +192 |
| 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 | ||||
| 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: | +1,290 | +494 | +855 | +0.6 | +1,032 | +2,934 | +0.5 | +1,246 | +900 | +5.5 | +3 | +192 |
| 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 | ||||
| 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: | +3.8 | +0.8 | +1.8 | +0.2 | +0.9 | +2.8 | +1.5 | +1.3 | +1.3 | +3.9 | +2 | +3 |
| 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 | ||||
| James Harden | 3,895 | 1,173 | 2,760 | 42.5 | 434 | 1,275 | 34.0 | 1,115 | 1,283 | 86.9 | 16 | 173 |
| difference: | +715 | +151 | +345 | +0.2 | +158 | +498 | +1.5 | +255 | +247 | +3.9 | +2 | +3 |
| 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 Scoring Leader
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Paul Pierce's additional seasons: | ||||
* Paul Pierce played 2 seasons more than James Harden in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 18 to 19, from 2016 to 2017—he averaged 5.4 points in a total of 93 regular season games. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| James Harden | 7.7 | +7.7 | 2010 | 6 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 1999 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| James Harden | 13.0 | +13.0 | 2011 | 17 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2000 | 0 |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| James Harden | 16.3 | +16.3 | 2012 | 20 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2001 | 0 |
Season 8 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| James Harden | 28.5 | +28.5 | 2017 | 11 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2006 | 0 |
Season 9 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| James Harden | 28.6 | +28.6 | 2018 | 17 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2007 | 0 |
Paul Pierce's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* During his 2 additional NBA seasons, Paul Pierce played in two Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 2.3 points in a total of 12 games. |