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.
Career comparison / Season by season / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings / Games against each other
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.
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 9 NBA regular seasons played, Joel Embiid averages 4.6 points more than Karl-Anthony Towns in his 10 seasons (27.7 points against 23.1). On the other hand Karl-Anthony Towns scored a total of 2,357 points more than Joel Embiid (14,880 vs. 12,523).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Joel Embiid | 27.7 | +4.6 | 9 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 23.1 | 10 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Joel Embiid | 12,523 | 9 | |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 14,880 | +2,357 | 10 |
Scoring Titles | ||
| Joel Embiid | 2 |  +2 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 0 | |
Points in the Playoffs
In the NBA postseason Joel Embiid has a better career point average than Karl-Anthony Towns (+5.1 points per game) and he also scored more points (+480).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Joel Embiid | 24.9 | +5.1 | 7 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 19.8 | 5 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Joel Embiid | 1,469 | +480 | 7 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 989 | 5 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
70+ Point Games | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 1 | +1 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 0 | |||
60+ Point Games | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 1 | |||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 2 | +1 | ||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 362 | |||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 433 | +71 | ||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 443 | |||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 626 | +183 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 451 | |||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 645 | +194 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 1 | +1 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 0 | |||
Playoffs
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 1 | +1 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 0 | |||
40+ Point Games | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 2 | +2 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 42 | +15 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 27 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 58 | +11 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 47 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 59 | +9 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 50 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 0 | |||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 0 | |||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 27.7 | 9.1 | 18.2 | 50.1 | 1.2 | 3.5 | 33.9 | 8.3 | 10.0 | 82.8 | 9 | 452 |
| difference: | +4.6 | +0.6 | +2.0 | +2.2 | +0.5 | +0.8 | +6.1 | +3.9 | +4.7 | +0.9 | +1 | +193 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 23.1 | 8.5 | 16.2 | 52.4 | 1.7 | 4.3 | 40.0 | 4.4 | 5.3 | 83.7 | 10 | 645 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 12,523 | 4,117 | 8,212 | 50.1 | 532 | 1,568 | 33.9 | 3,757 | 4,538 | 82.8 | 9 | 452 |
| difference: | +2,357 | +1,343 | +2,212 | +2.2 | +585 | +1,222 | +6.1 | +914 | +1,143 | +0.9 | +1 | +193 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 14,880 | 5,460 | 10,424 | 52.4 | 1,117 | 2,790 | 40.0 | 2,843 | 3,395 | 83.7 | 10 | 645 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 24.9 | 7.9 | 17.2 | 45.9 | 1.1 | 3.8 | 28.9 | 8.0 | 9.7 | 82.8 | 7 | 59 |
| difference: | +5.1 | +1.0 | +2.7 | +1.7 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +6.1 | +3.6 | +4.4 | +0.3 | +2 | +9 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 19.8 | 6.9 | 14.5 | 47.6 | 1.5 | 4.3 | 35.0 | 4.4 | 5.3 | 83.1 | 5 | 50 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 1,469 | 466 | 1,015 | 45.9 | 65 | 225 | 28.9 | 472 | 570 | 82.8 | 7 | 59 |
| difference: | +480 | +120 | +288 | +1.7 | +10 | +11 | +6.1 | +250 | +303 | +0.3 | +2 | +9 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 989 | 346 | 727 | 47.6 | 75 | 214 | 35.0 | 222 | 267 | 83.1 | 5 | 50 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA Scoring LeaderRegular Season
Karl-Anthony Towns' additional seasons: | ||||
* Karl-Anthony Towns played 1 season more than Joel Embiid in the NBA. In that year—his season 10 in 2025—he averaged 24.4 points in a total of 72 regular season games. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Joel Embiid | - | DNP | 2017 | 0 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | - | DNP | 2016 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Joel Embiid | 21.4 | +21.4 | 2018 | 8 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | - | DNP | 2017 | 0 |
Season 4 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Joel Embiid | 30.0 | +30.0 | 2020 | 4 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | - | DNP | 2019 | 0 |
Season 5 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Joel Embiid | 28.1 | +28.1 | 2021 | 11 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | - | DNP | 2020 | 0 |
Season 6 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Joel Embiid | 23.6 | +23.6 | 2022 | 10 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | - | DNP | 2021 | 0 |
Season 9 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Joel Embiid | - | DNP | 2025 | 0 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 19.1 | +19.1 | 2024 | 16 |
Karl-Anthony Towns' additional Playoffs: | ||||
* In his additional NBA year, Karl-Anthony Towns played in the Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 21.4 points in a total of 18 games. |