Joel Embiid vs. Karl-Anthony Towns: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Karl-Anthony Towns and Joel Embiid 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.

Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns have two of the highest career scoring averages in league history and here we compare all their scoring stats.

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Joel Embiid has better scoring averages both in the regular season and Playoffs and also scored more points in during the postseason while Karl-Anthony Towns scored more points in the regular season. 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 10 NBA regular seasons played, Joel Embiid averages 4.6 points more than Karl-Anthony Towns in his 11 seasons (27.6 points against 23.0). On the other hand Karl-Anthony Towns scored a total of 2,540 points more than Joel Embiid (15,181 vs. 12,641).

Points Per Game			Seasons
Joel Embiid	27.6	+4.6	10
Karl-Anthony Towns	23.0		11

Total Points			Seasons
Joel Embiid	12,641		10
Karl-Anthony Towns	15,181	+2,540	11

Scoring Titles
Joel Embiid	2	+2
Karl-Anthony Towns	0

Points by Thresholds

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

= NBA Scoring Leader

Regular Season

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
Joel Embiid	20.2	+1.9	2017	31
Karl-Anthony Towns	18.3		2016	82

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Joel Embiid	22.9		2018	63
Karl-Anthony Towns	25.1	+2.2	2017	82

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Joel Embiid	27.5	+6.2	2019	64
Karl-Anthony Towns	21.3		2018	82

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Joel Embiid	23.0		2020	51
Karl-Anthony Towns	24.4	+1.4	2019	77

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Joel Embiid	28.5	+2.0	2021	51
Karl-Anthony Towns	26.5		2020	35

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Joel Embiid	30.6	+5.8	2022	68
Karl-Anthony Towns	24.8		2021	50

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Joel Embiid	33.1	+8.5	2023	66
Karl-Anthony Towns	24.6		2022	74

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Joel Embiid	34.7	+13.9	2024	39
Karl-Anthony Towns	20.8		2023	29

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
Joel Embiid	23.8	+2.0	2025	19
Karl-Anthony Towns	21.8		2024	62

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
Joel Embiid	19.7		2026	6
Karl-Anthony Towns	24.4	+4.7	2025	72

Karl-Anthony Towns' additional seasons:

* Karl-Anthony Towns played 1 season more than Joel Embiid in the NBA. In that year—his season 11 in 2026—he averaged 21.5 points in a total of 14 regular season games.