Larry Bird vs. Paul Pierce: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Paul Pierce 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.

Paul Pierce and Larry Bird are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 48,188 points—. Larry Bird 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 Larry Bird has better scoring averages both in the regular season and Playoffs and also scored more points in during the postseason while Paul Pierce 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 by Thresholds

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

= NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	21.3	+4.8	1980	82
Paul Pierce	16.5		1999	48

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	21.2	+1.7	1981	82
Paul Pierce	19.5		2000	73

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	22.9		1982	77
Paul Pierce	25.3	+2.4	2001	82

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	23.6		1983	79
Paul Pierce	26.1	+2.5	2002	82

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	24.2		1984	79
Paul Pierce	25.9	+1.7	2003	79

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	28.7	+5.7	1985	80
Paul Pierce	23.0		2004	80

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	25.8	+4.2	1986	82
Paul Pierce	21.6		2005	82

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	28.1	+1.3	1987	74
Paul Pierce	26.8		2006	79

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	29.9	+4.9	1988	76
Paul Pierce	25.0		2007	47

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	19.3		1989	6
Paul Pierce	19.6	+0.3	2008	80

Season 11	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	24.3	+3.8	1990	75
Paul Pierce	20.5		2009	81

Season 12	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	19.4	+1.1	1991	60
Paul Pierce	18.3		2010	71

Season 13	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	20.2	+1.3	1992	45
Paul Pierce	18.9		2011	80

Paul Pierce's additional seasons:

* Paul Pierce played 6 seasons more than Larry Bird in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 14 to 19, from 2012 to 2017—he averaged 13.2 points in a total of 379 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 19.4 ppg and his lowest 3.2.

Playoffs

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	21.3	+21.3	1980	9
Paul Pierce	-	DNP	1999	0

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	21.9	+21.9	1981	17
Paul Pierce	-	DNP	2000	0

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	17.8	+17.8	1982	12
Paul Pierce	-	DNP	2001	0

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	20.5		1983	6
Paul Pierce	24.6	+4.1	2002	16

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	27.5	+0.4	1984	23
Paul Pierce	27.1		2003	10

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	26.0	+5.2	1985	20
Paul Pierce	20.8		2004	4

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	25.9	+3.0	1986	18
Paul Pierce	22.9		2005	7

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	27.0	+27.0	1987	23
Paul Pierce	-	DNP	2006	0

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	24.5	+24.5	1988	17
Paul Pierce	-	DNP	2007	0

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	-	DNP	1989	0
Paul Pierce	19.7	+19.7	2008	26

Season 11	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	24.4	+3.4	1990	5
Paul Pierce	21.0		2009	14

Season 12	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	17.1		1991	10
Paul Pierce	18.8	+1.7	2010	24

Season 13	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	11.3		1992	4
Paul Pierce	20.8	+9.5	2011	9

Paul Pierce's additional Playoffs:

* During his 6 additional NBA seasons, Paul Pierce played in 6 Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 13.8 points in a total of 60 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 19.2 ppg and his lowest 1.2.