Larry Bird vs. Drazen Petrovic: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Drazen Petrovic and Larry Bird 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.
Larry Bird 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 Drazen Petrovic.
By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Larry Bird has better scoring stats than Drazen Petrovic 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 13 NBA regular seasons played, Larry Bird averages 8.9 points more than Drazen Petrovic in his 4 seasons (24.3 points against 15.4), and he also scored a total of 17,330 points more (21,791 vs. 4,461).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Larry Bird | 24.3 | +8.9 | 13 |
| Drazen Petrovic | 15.4 | 4 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Larry Bird | 21,791 | +17,330 | 13 |
| Drazen Petrovic | 4,461 | 4 | |
Points in the Playoffs
Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Larry Bird has a better career point average than Drazen Petrovic (+13.6 points per game) and he also scored more points (+3,600).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Larry Bird | 23.8 | +13.6 | 12 |
| Drazen Petrovic | 10.2 | 3 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Larry Bird | 3,897 | +3,600 | 12 |
| Drazen Petrovic | 297 | 3 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
60+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 1 | +1 | ||
| Drazen Petrovic | 0 | |||
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 4 | +4 | ||
| Drazen Petrovic | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 625 | +526 | ||
| Drazen Petrovic | 99 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 873 | +668 | ||
| Drazen Petrovic | 205 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Larry Bird | 896 | +616 | ||
| Drazen Petrovic | 280 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Larry Bird | 1 | |||
| Drazen Petrovic | 10 | +9 | ||
Playoffs
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 110 | +106 | ||
| Drazen Petrovic | 4 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 161 | +146 | ||
| Drazen Petrovic | 15 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Larry Bird | 164 | +139 | ||
| Drazen Petrovic | 25 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Larry Bird | 0 | |||
| Drazen Petrovic | 4 | +4 | ||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Larry Bird | 24.3 | 9.6 | 19.3 | 49.6 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 37.6 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 88.6 | 13 | 897 |
| difference: | +8.9 | +3.7 | +7.7 | +1.0 | +0.2 | +0.1 | +6.1 | +1.7 | +1.7 | +4.5 | +9 | +607 |
| Drazen Petrovic | 15.4 | 5.9 | 11.6 | 50.6 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 43.7 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 84.1 | 4 | 290 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Larry Bird | 21,791 | 8,591 | 17,334 | 49.6 | 649 | 1,727 | 37.6 | 3,960 | 4,471 | 88.6 | 13 | 897 |
| difference: | +17,330 | +6,886 | +13,965 | +1.0 | +394 | +1,144 | +6.1 | +3,164 | +3,525 | +4.5 | +9 | +607 |
| Drazen Petrovic | 4,461 | 1,705 | 3,369 | 50.6 | 255 | 583 | 43.7 | 796 | 946 | 84.1 | 4 | 290 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Larry Bird | 23.8 | 8.9 | 18.8 | 47.2 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 32.1 | 5.5 | 6.2 | 89.0 | 12 | 164 |
| difference: | +13.6 | +4.8 | +10.1 | +0.2 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +3.8 | +3.8 | +19.4 | +9 | +135 |
| Drazen Petrovic | 10.2 | 4.1 | 8.7 | 47.4 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 32.4 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 69.6 | 3 | 29 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Larry Bird | 3,897 | 1,458 | 3,090 | 47.2 | 80 | 249 | 32.1 | 901 | 1,012 | 89.0 | 12 | 164 |
| difference: | +3,600 | +1,339 | +2,839 | +0.2 | +69 | +215 | +0.3 | +853 | +943 | +19.4 | +9 | +135 |
| Drazen Petrovic | 297 | 119 | 251 | 47.4 | 11 | 34 | 32.4 | 48 | 69 | 69.6 | 3 | 29 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 21.3 | +13.7 | 1980 | 82 |
| Drazen Petrovic | 7.6 | 1990 | 77 | |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 21.2 | +11.0 | 1981 | 82 |
| Drazen Petrovic | 10.2 | 1991 | 61 | |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 22.9 | +12.7 | 1982 | 77 |
| Drazen Petrovic | 10.2 | 1991 | 61 | |
Season 4 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 23.6 | +3.0 | 1983 | 79 |
| Drazen Petrovic | 20.6 | 1992 | 82 | |
Season 5 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 24.2 | +1.9 | 1984 | 79 |
| Drazen Petrovic | 22.3 | 1993 | 70 | |
Larry Bird's additional seasons: | ||||
* Larry Bird played 8 seasons more than Drazen Petrovic in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 6 to 13, from 1985 to 1992—he averaged 25.6 points in a total of 498 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 29.9 ppg and his lowest 19.3. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 21.3 | +15.2 | 1980 | 9 |
| Drazen Petrovic | 6.1 | 1990 | 20 | |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 21.9 | +21.9 | 1981 | 17 |
| Drazen Petrovic | - | DNP | 1991 | 0 |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 17.8 | +17.8 | 1982 | 12 |
| Drazen Petrovic | - | DNP | 1991 | 0 |
Season 4 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 20.5 | 1983 | 6 | |
| Drazen Petrovic | 24.3 | +3.8 | 1992 | 4 |
Season 5 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 27.5 | +11.9 | 1984 | 23 |
| Drazen Petrovic | 15.6 | 1993 | 5 | |
Larry Bird's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* During his 8 additional NBA seasons, Larry Bird played in 7 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those postseasons he averaged 24.4 points in a total of 97 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 27 ppg and his lowest 11.3. |