Magic Johnson vs. Paul Pierce: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Paul Pierce and Magic Johnson 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.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings

Paul Pierce is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points and here we compare his scoring stats with those recorded by Magic Johnson.

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Paul Pierce has better scoring average and totals in the regular season while in the Playoffs both numbers are better for Magic Johnson. 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:

Who has better scoring stats? Career Numbers
Games of 30+ points, 40+, 50+, etc
Shooting Stats
Points Year by Year

Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?

Points in the Regular Season

In his 19 NBA regular seasons played, Paul Pierce averages 0.2 points more than Magic Johnson in his 13 seasons (19.7 points against 19.5), and he also scored a total of 8,690 points more (26,397 vs. 17,707).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Magic Johnson 19.5
13
Paul Pierce 19.7
+0.2
19

Total Points

Seasons
Magic Johnson 17,707
13
Paul Pierce 26,397
+8,690
19

Points in the Playoffs

In the NBA postseason Magic Johnson has a better career point average than Paul Pierce (+0.8 points per game) and he also scored more points (+521).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Magic Johnson 19.5
+0.8
13
Paul Pierce 18.7
14

Total Points

Playoffs
Magic Johnson 3,701
+521
13
Paul Pierce 3,180
14

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

50+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 0
Paul Pierce 1
+1

40+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 6
Paul Pierce 21
+15

30+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 93
Paul Pierce 198
+105

20+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 447
Paul Pierce 668
+221

10+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 825
Paul Pierce 1,161
+336

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Magic Johnson 903
Paul Pierce 1,322
+419

0 Point Games (games without points)

Magic Johnson 3
Paul Pierce 21
+18

Playoffs

40+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 4
+1
Paul Pierce 3

30+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 12
Paul Pierce 16
+4

20+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 83
+10
Paul Pierce 73

10+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 182
+34
Paul Pierce 148

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Magic Johnson 189
+24
Paul Pierce 165

0 Point Games (games without points)

Magic Johnson 1
Paul Pierce 5
+4

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

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Regular Season

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Magic Johnson 19.5 6.9 13.2 52.0 0.4 1.2 30.3 5.5 6.5 84.8 13 906
difference:+0.2+0.4+1.3+7.4+1.2+3.1+6.5+0.3+0.1+4.2+6+437
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
Magic Johnson 17,707 6,211 11,951 52.0 325 1,074 30.3 4,960 5,850 84.8 13 906
difference:+8,690+2,457+7,514+7.4+1,818+4,742+6.5+1,958+2,728+4.2+6+437
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
Magic Johnson 19.5 6.8 13.4 50.6 0.3 1.1 24.1 5.6 6.7 83.8 13 190
difference:+0.8+0.8+0.8+8.3+1.3+3.5+11.4+0.5+0.6+0.8+1+20
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
Magic Johnson 3,701 1,291 2,552 50.6 51 212 24.1 1,068 1,274 83.8 13 190
difference:+521+269+137+8.3+225+565+11.4+208+238+0.8+1+20
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 Champion = NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 18.0
+1.5
1980NBA Champion77
Paul Pierce 16.5
199948

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 21.6
+2.1
198137
Paul Pierce 19.5
200073

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 18.6
1982NBA Champion78
Paul Pierce 25.3
+6.7
200182

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 16.8
198379
Paul Pierce 26.1
+9.3
200282

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 17.6
198467
Paul Pierce 25.9
+8.3
200379

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 18.3
1985NBA Champion77
Paul Pierce 23.0
+4.7
200480

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 18.8
198672
Paul Pierce 21.6
+2.8
200582

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 23.9
1987NBA Champion80
Paul Pierce 26.8
+2.9
200679

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 19.6
1988NBA Champion72
Paul Pierce 25.0
+5.4
200747

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 22.5
+2.9
198977
Paul Pierce 19.6
2008NBA Champion80

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 22.3
+1.8
199079
Paul Pierce 20.5
200981

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 19.4
+1.1
199179
Paul Pierce 18.3
201071

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 14.6
199632
Paul Pierce 18.9
+4.3
201180

Paul Pierce's additional seasons:

* Paul Pierce played 6 seasons more than Magic Johnson 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 gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 18.3
+18.3
1980NBA Champion16
Paul Pierce -
DNP
19990

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 17.0
+17.0
19813
Paul Pierce -
DNP
20000

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 17.4
+17.4
1982NBA Champion14
Paul Pierce -
DNP
20010

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 17.9
198315
Paul Pierce 24.6
+6.7
200216

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 18.2
198421
Paul Pierce 27.1
+8.9
200310

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 17.5
1985NBA Champion19
Paul Pierce 20.8
+3.3
20044

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 21.6
198614
Paul Pierce 22.9
+1.3
20057

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 21.8
+21.8
1987NBA Champion18
Paul Pierce -
DNP
20060

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 19.9
+19.9
1988NBA Champion24
Paul Pierce -
DNP
20070

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 18.4
198914
Paul Pierce 19.7
+1.3
2008NBA Champion26

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 25.2
+4.2
19909
Paul Pierce 21.0
200914

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 21.8
+3.0
199119
Paul Pierce 18.8
201024

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 15.3
19964
Paul Pierce 20.8
+5.5
20119

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.

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