Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Karl-Anthony Towns: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Karl-Anthony Towns and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 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.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Karl-Anthony Towns have two of the highest career scoring averages in league history and here we compare all their scoring stats.

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has better scoring averages both in the regular season and Playoffs and also scored more points in during the postseason while Karl-Anthony Towns 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 in the Regular Season

In his 7 NBA regular seasons played, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averages 1.3 points more than Karl-Anthony Towns in his 10 seasons (24.4 points against 23.1). On the other hand Karl-Anthony Towns scored a total of 3,586 points more than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (14,880 vs. 11,294).

Points Per Game			Seasons
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	24.4	+1.3	7
Karl-Anthony Towns	23.1		10

Total Points			Seasons
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	11,294		7
Karl-Anthony Towns	14,880	+3,586	10

Scoring Titles
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	1	+1
Karl-Anthony Towns	0

Points by Thresholds

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

= NBA Scoring Leader

= NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	10.8		2019	82
Karl-Anthony Towns	18.3	+7.5	2016	82

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	19.0		2020	70
Karl-Anthony Towns	25.1	+6.1	2017	82

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	23.7	+2.4	2021	35
Karl-Anthony Towns	21.3		2018	82

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	24.5	+0.1	2022	56
Karl-Anthony Towns	24.4		2019	77

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	31.4	+4.9	2023	68
Karl-Anthony Towns	26.5		2020	35

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	30.1	+5.3	2024	75
Karl-Anthony Towns	24.8		2021	50

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	32.7	+8.1	2025	76
Karl-Anthony Towns	24.6		2022	74

Karl-Anthony Towns' additional seasons:

* Karl-Anthony Towns played 3 seasons more than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 8 to 10, from 2023 to 2025—he averaged 22.8 points in a total of 163 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 24.4 ppg and his lowest 20.8.

Playoffs

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	13.7	+13.7	2019	6
Karl-Anthony Towns	-	DNP	2016	0

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	16.3	+16.3	2020	7
Karl-Anthony Towns	-	DNP	2017	0

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	-	DNP	2021	0
Karl-Anthony Towns	15.2	+15.2	2018	5

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	-	DNP	2022	0
Karl-Anthony Towns	-	DNP	2019	0

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	-	DNP	2023	0
Karl-Anthony Towns	-	DNP	2020	0

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	30.2	+30.2	2024	10
Karl-Anthony Towns	-	DNP	2021	0

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	29.9	+8.1	2025	23
Karl-Anthony Towns	21.8		2022	6

Karl-Anthony Towns' additional Playoffs:

* During his 3 additional NBA seasons, Karl-Anthony Towns played in 3 Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 20.1 points in a total of 39 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 21.4 ppg and his lowest 18.2.