Paul Pierce vs. Arvydas Sabonis: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Arvydas Sabonis and Paul Pierce 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
Paul Pierce is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points and here we compare his scoring stats with those recorded by Arvydas Sabonis.
By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Paul Pierce has better scoring stats than Arvydas Sabonis 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 19 NBA regular seasons played, Paul Pierce averages 7.7 points more than Arvydas Sabonis in his 7 seasons (19.7 points against 12.0), and he also scored a total of 20,768 points more (26,397 vs. 5,629).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Paul Pierce | 19.7 | +7.7 | 19 |
| Arvydas Sabonis | 12.0 | 7 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Paul Pierce | 26,397 | +20,768 | 19 |
| Arvydas Sabonis | 5,629 | 7 | |
Points in the Playoffs
Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Paul Pierce has a better career point average than Arvydas Sabonis (+6.6 points per game) and he also scored more points (+2,563).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Paul Pierce | 18.7 | +6.6 | 14 |
| Arvydas Sabonis | 12.1 | 7 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Paul Pierce | 3,180 | +2,563 | 14 |
| Arvydas Sabonis | 617 | 7 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Paul Pierce | 1 | +1 | ||
| Arvydas Sabonis | 0 | |||
40+ Point Games | ||||
| Paul Pierce | 21 | +21 | ||
| Arvydas Sabonis | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Paul Pierce | 668 | +602 | ||
| Arvydas Sabonis | 66 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Paul Pierce | 1,161 | +864 | ||
| Arvydas Sabonis | 297 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Paul Pierce | 1,322 | +863 | ||
| Arvydas Sabonis | 459 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Paul Pierce | 21 | +10 | ||
| Arvydas Sabonis | 11 | |||
Playoffs
40+ Point Games | ||||
| Paul Pierce | 3 | +3 | ||
| Arvydas Sabonis | 0 | |||
30+ Point Games | ||||
| Paul Pierce | 16 | +16 | ||
| Arvydas Sabonis | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Paul Pierce | 73 | +67 | ||
| Arvydas Sabonis | 6 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Paul Pierce | 148 | +113 | ||
| Arvydas Sabonis | 35 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Paul Pierce | 165 | +116 | ||
| Arvydas Sabonis | 49 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Paul Pierce | 5 | +3 | ||
| Arvydas Sabonis | 2 | |||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| 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 |
| difference: | +7.7 | +2.1 | +5.6 | +5.5 | +1.3 | +3.4 | +4.0 | +2.4 | +2.8 | +2.0 | +12 | +873 |
| Arvydas Sabonis | 12.0 | 4.4 | 8.9 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 32.8 | 2.8 | 3.6 | 78.6 | 7 | 470 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| 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 |
| difference: | +20,768 | +6,586 | +15,305 | +5.5 | +2,007 | +5,401 | +4.0 | +5,589 | +6,888 | +2.0 | +12 | +873 |
| Arvydas Sabonis | 5,629 | 2,082 | 4,160 | 50.0 | 136 | 415 | 32.8 | 1,329 | 1,690 | 78.6 | 7 | 470 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Paul Pierce | 18.7 | 6.0 | 14.2 | 42.3 | 1.6 | 4.6 | 35.5 | 5.1 | 6.1 | 83.0 | 14 | 170 |
| difference: | +6.6 | +1.6 | +4.6 | +2.9 | +1.3 | +3.7 | +3.6 | +2.0 | +2.2 | +2.8 | +7 | +119 |
| Arvydas Sabonis | 12.1 | 4.4 | 9.6 | 45.2 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 31.9 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 80.2 | 7 | 51 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Paul Pierce | 3,180 | 1,022 | 2,415 | 42.3 | 276 | 777 | 35.5 | 860 | 1,036 | 83.0 | 14 | 170 |
| difference: | +2,563 | +800 | +1,924 | +2.9 | +261 | +730 | +3.6 | +702 | +839 | +2.8 | +7 | +119 |
| Arvydas Sabonis | 617 | 222 | 491 | 45.2 | 15 | 47 | 31.9 | 158 | 197 | 80.2 | 7 | 51 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Paul Pierce's additional seasons: | ||||
* Paul Pierce played 12 seasons more than Arvydas Sabonis in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 8 to 19, from 2006 to 2017—he averaged 17.5 points in a total of 817 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 26.8 ppg and his lowest 3.2. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 1999 | 0 |
| Arvydas Sabonis | 23.6 | +23.6 | 1996 | 5 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2000 | 0 |
| Arvydas Sabonis | 11.3 | +11.3 | 1997 | 4 |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2001 | 0 |
| Arvydas Sabonis | 12.3 | +12.3 | 1998 | 4 |
Paul Pierce's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* During his 12 additional NBA seasons, Paul Pierce played in 10 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those postseasons he averaged 17.1 points in a total of 133 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 21 ppg and his lowest 1.2. |