Penny Hardaway vs. Paul Pierce: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Paul Pierce and Penny Hardaway 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 / 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 Penny Hardaway.

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Paul Pierce scored more points both in the regular season and Playoffs and also has better season average while Penny Hardaway has a better scoring average in the postseason. 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 4.5 points more than Penny Hardaway in his 14 seasons (19.7 points against 15.2), and he also scored a total of 15,713 points more (26,397 vs. 10,684).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Penny Hardaway 15.2
14
Paul Pierce 19.7
+4.5
19

Total Points

Seasons
Penny Hardaway 10,684
14
Paul Pierce 26,397
+15,713
19

Points in the Playoffs

In the NBA postseason Penny Hardaway has a better career point average than Paul Pierce (+1.7 points per game) while Paul Pierce scored more points (+1,876).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Penny Hardaway 20.4
+1.7
8
Paul Pierce 18.7
14

Total Points

Playoffs
Penny Hardaway 1,304
8
Paul Pierce 3,180
+1,876
14

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

50+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 0
Paul Pierce 1
+1

40+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 1
Paul Pierce 21
+20

30+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 41
Paul Pierce 198
+157

20+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 215
Paul Pierce 668
+453

10+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 502
Paul Pierce 1,161
+659

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Penny Hardaway 683
Paul Pierce 1,322
+639

0 Point Games (games without points)

Penny Hardaway 21
Paul Pierce 21

Playoffs

40+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 2
Paul Pierce 3
+1

30+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 8
Paul Pierce 16
+8

20+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 26
Paul Pierce 73
+47

10+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 62
Paul Pierce 148
+86

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Penny Hardaway 64
Paul Pierce 165
+101

0 Point Games (games without points)

Penny Hardaway 0
Paul Pierce 5
+5

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

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Regular Season

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Penny Hardaway 15.2 5.7 12.4 45.8 0.7 2.3 31.6 3.1 4.0 77.4 14 704
difference:+4.5+0.8+2.1+1.2+0.9+2.0+5.2+2.1+2.4+3.2+5+639
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
Penny Hardaway 10,684 3,995 8,731 45.8 503 1,591 31.6 2,191 2,831 77.4 14 704
difference:+15,713+4,673+10,734+1.2+1,640+4,225+5.2+4,727+5,747+3.2+5+639
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
Penny Hardaway 20.4 7.1 15.9 44.8 1.6 4.2 38.0 4.5 6.1 74.6 8 64
difference:+1.7+1.1+1.7+2.5+0.4+2.5+0.6+8.4+6+106
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
Penny Hardaway 1,304 456 1,018 44.8 101 266 38.0 291 390 74.6 8 64
difference:+1,876+566+1,397+2.5+175+511+2.5+569+646+8.4+6+106
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
Penny Hardaway 16.0
199482
Paul Pierce 16.5
+0.5
199948

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 20.9
+1.4
199577
Paul Pierce 19.5
200073

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 21.7
199682
Paul Pierce 25.3
+3.6
200182

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 20.5
199759
Paul Pierce 26.1
+5.6
200282

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 16.4
199819
Paul Pierce 25.9
+9.5
200379

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 15.8
199950
Paul Pierce 23.0
+7.2
200480

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 16.9
200060
Paul Pierce 21.6
+4.7
200582

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 9.8
20014
Paul Pierce 26.8
+17.0
200679

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 12.0
200280
Paul Pierce 25.0
+13.0
200747

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 10.6
200358
Paul Pierce 19.6
+9.0
2008NBA Champion80

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 9.2
200476
Paul Pierce 20.5
+11.3
200981

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 7.3
200537
Paul Pierce 18.3
+11.0
201071

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 2.5
20064
Paul Pierce 18.9
+16.4
201180

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 3.8
200816
Paul Pierce 19.4
+15.6
201261

Paul Pierce's additional seasons:

* Paul Pierce played 5 seasons more than Penny Hardaway in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 15 to 19, from 2013 to 2017—he averaged 12.0 points in a total of 318 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 18.6 ppg and his lowest 3.2.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 18.7
+18.7
19943
Paul Pierce -
DNP
19990

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 19.6
+19.6
199521
Paul Pierce -
DNP
20000

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 23.3
+23.3
199612
Paul Pierce -
DNP
20010

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 31.0
+6.4
19975
Paul Pierce 24.6
200216

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
19980
Paul Pierce 27.1
+27.1
200310

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 19.0
19994
Paul Pierce 20.8
+1.8
20044

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 20.3
20009
Paul Pierce 22.9
+2.6
20057

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20010
Paul Pierce -
DNP
20060

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20020
Paul Pierce -
DNP
20070

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 12.7
20036
Paul Pierce 19.7
+7.0
2008NBA Champion26

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 16.5
20044
Paul Pierce 21.0
+4.5
200914

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20050
Paul Pierce 18.8
+18.8
201024

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20060
Paul Pierce 20.8
+20.8
20119

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20080
Paul Pierce 18.9
+18.9
201220

Paul Pierce's additional Playoffs:

* During his 5 additional NBA seasons, Paul Pierce played in 5 Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 11.3 points in a total of 40 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 19.2 ppg and his lowest 1.2.

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