Shaquille O'Neal vs. Paul Pierce: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Paul Pierce and Shaquille O'Neal 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
Shaquille O'Neal and Paul Pierce are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 54,993 points—. 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 Shaquille O'Neal has better scoring stats than Paul Pierce 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, Shaquille O'Neal averages 4 points more than Paul Pierce in his 19 seasons (23.7 points against 19.7), and he also scored a total of 2,199 points more (28,596 vs. 26,397).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 23.7 | +4.0 | 19 |
| Paul Pierce | 19.7 | 19 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 28,596 | +2,199 | 19 |
| Paul Pierce | 26,397 | 19 | |
Scoring Titles | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 2 |  +2 |
| Paul Pierce | 0 | |
Points in the Playoffs
Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Shaquille O'Neal has a better career point average than Paul Pierce (+5.6 points per game) and he also scored more points (+2,070).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 24.3 | +5.6 | 17 |
| Paul Pierce | 18.7 | 14 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 5,250 | +2,070 | 17 |
| Paul Pierce | 3,180 | 14 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
60+ Point Games | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1 | +1 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 826 | +158 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 668 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1,132 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 1,161 | +29 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1,205 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 1,322 | +117 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 2 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 21 | +19 | ||
Playoffs
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 148 | +75 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 73 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 206 | +58 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 148 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 215 | +50 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 165 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 5 | +4 | ||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 23.7 | 9.4 | 16.1 | 58.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 9.3 | 52.7 | 19 | 1,207 |
| difference: | +4.0 | +2.9 | +1.6 | +13.7 | +1.6 | +4.3 | +32.3 | +0.3 | +2.9 | +27.9 | +136 | |
| 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 | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 28,596 | 11,330 | 19,457 | 58.2 | 1 | 22 | 4.5 | 5,935 | 11,252 | 52.7 | 19 | 1,207 |
| difference: | +2,199 | +2,662 | +8 | +13.7 | +2,142 | +5,794 | +32.3 | +983 | +2,674 | +27.9 | +136 | |
| 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 | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 24.3 | 9.4 | 16.8 | 56.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | - | 5.4 | 10.7 | 50.4 | 17 | 216 |
| difference: | +5.6 | +3.4 | +2.6 | +14.0 | +1.6 | +4.6 | +35.5 | +0.3 | +4.6 | +32.6 | +3 | +46 |
| 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 | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 5,250 | 2,041 | 3,627 | 56.3 | 0 | 0 | - | 1,168 | 2,317 | 50.4 | 17 | 216 |
| difference: | +2,070 | +1,019 | +1,212 | +14.0 | +276 | +777 | +35.5 | +308 | +1,281 | +32.6 | +3 | +46 |
| 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 Scoring Leader
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | - | DNP | 1993 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 1999 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 20.7 | +20.7 | 1994 | 3 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2000 | 0 |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 25.7 | +25.7 | 1995 | 21 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2001 | 0 |
Season 8 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 30.7 | +30.7 | 2000 | 23 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2006 | 0 |
Season 9 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 30.4 | +30.4 | 2001 | 16 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2007 | 0 |
Season 17 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | - | DNP | 2009 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 14.6 | +14.6 | 2015 | 10 |