Stephen Curry vs. Dwight Howard: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Dwight Howard and Stephen Curry 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
Stephen Curry is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points and also has one of the highest career averages in league history, and here we compare his scoring stats with those recorded by Dwight Howard.
By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Stephen Curry has better scoring stats than Dwight Howard 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 16 NBA regular seasons played, Stephen Curry averages 9 points more than Dwight Howard in his 18 seasons (24.7 points against 15.7), and he also scored a total of 5,901 points more (25,386 vs. 19,485).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Stephen Curry | 24.7 | +9.0 | 16 |
| Dwight Howard | 15.7 | 18 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Stephen Curry | 25,386 | +5,901 | 16 |
| Dwight Howard | 19,485 | 18 | |
Scoring Titles | ||
| Stephen Curry | 2 |  +2 |
| Dwight Howard | 0 | |
Points in the Playoffs
Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Stephen Curry has a better career point average than Dwight Howard (+11.5 points per game) and he also scored more points (+2,238).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Stephen Curry | 26.8 | +11.5 | 10 |
| Dwight Howard | 15.3 | 12 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Stephen Curry | 4,147 | +2,238 | 10 |
| Dwight Howard | 1,909 | 12 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
60+ Point Games | ||||
| Stephen Curry | 2 | +2 | ||
| Dwight Howard | 0 | |||
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Stephen Curry | 15 | +15 | ||
| Dwight Howard | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Stephen Curry | 717 | +326 | ||
| Dwight Howard | 391 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Stephen Curry | 967 | +12 | ||
| Dwight Howard | 955 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Stephen Curry | 1,021 | |||
| Dwight Howard | 1,227 | +206 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Stephen Curry | 5 | |||
| Dwight Howard | 15 | +10 | ||
Playoffs
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Stephen Curry | 1 | +1 | ||
| Dwight Howard | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Stephen Curry | 123 | +81 | ||
| Dwight Howard | 42 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Stephen Curry | 153 | +67 | ||
| Dwight Howard | 86 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Stephen Curry | 155 | +34 | ||
| Dwight Howard | 121 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Stephen Curry | 0 | |||
| Dwight Howard | 4 | +4 | ||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Stephen Curry | 24.7 | 8.4 | 17.9 | 47.1 | 4.0 | 9.3 | 42.3 | 3.9 | 4.3 | 91.1 | 16 | 1,026 |
| difference: | +9.0 | +2.7 | +8.2 | +11.6 | +4.0 | +9.2 | +20.9 | +0.4 | +3.3 | +34.4 | +2 | +216 |
| Dwight Howard | 15.7 | 5.7 | 9.7 | 58.7 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 21.4 | 4.3 | 7.6 | 56.7 | 18 | 1,242 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Stephen Curry | 25,386 | 8,648 | 18,356 | 47.1 | 4,058 | 9,589 | 42.3 | 4,032 | 4,424 | 91.1 | 16 | 1,026 |
| difference: | +5,901 | +1,597 | +6,340 | +11.6 | +4,036 | +9,486 | +20.9 | +1,329 | +5,031 | +34.4 | +2 | +216 |
| Dwight Howard | 19,485 | 7,051 | 12,016 | 58.7 | 22 | 103 | 21.4 | 5,361 | 9,455 | 56.7 | 18 | 1,242 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Stephen Curry | 26.8 | 9.0 | 19.7 | 45.4 | 4.2 | 10.6 | 39.7 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 88.9 | 10 | 155 |
| difference: | +11.5 | +3.6 | +10.5 | +13.5 | +4.2 | +10.5 | +25.4 | +0.3 | +2.8 | +34.1 | +2 | +30 |
| Dwight Howard | 15.3 | 5.4 | 9.2 | 58.9 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 14.3 | 4.4 | 8.0 | 54.8 | 12 | 125 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Stephen Curry | 4,147 | 1,388 | 3,056 | 45.4 | 650 | 1,637 | 39.7 | 721 | 811 | 88.9 | 10 | 155 |
| difference: | +2,238 | +707 | +1,900 | +13.5 | +649 | +1,630 | +25.4 | +175 | +186 | +34.1 | +2 | +30 |
| Dwight Howard | 1,909 | 681 | 1,156 | 58.9 | 1 | 7 | 14.3 | 546 | 997 | 54.8 | 12 | 125 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA Scoring Leader
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Dwight Howard's additional seasons: | ||||
* Dwight Howard played 2 seasons more than Stephen Curry in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 17 to 18, from 2021 to 2022—he averaged 6.6 points in a total of 129 regular season games. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Stephen Curry | - | DNP | 2010 | 0 |
| Dwight Howard | - | DNP | 2005 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Stephen Curry | - | DNP | 2011 | 0 |
| Dwight Howard | - | DNP | 2006 | 0 |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Stephen Curry | - | DNP | 2012 | 0 |
| Dwight Howard | 15.3 | +15.3 | 2007 | 4 |
Season 8 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Stephen Curry | 28.1 | +28.1 | 2017 | 17 |
| Dwight Howard | - | DNP | 2012 | 0 |
Season 11 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Stephen Curry | - | DNP | 2020 | 0 |
| Dwight Howard | 16.4 | +16.4 | 2015 | 17 |
Season 12 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Stephen Curry | - | DNP | 2021 | 0 |
| Dwight Howard | 13.2 | +13.2 | 2016 | 5 |
Season 14 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Stephen Curry | 30.5 | +30.5 | 2023 | 13 |
| Dwight Howard | - | DNP | 2018 | 0 |
Season 15 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Stephen Curry | - | DNP | 2024 | 0 |
| Dwight Howard | - | DNP | 2019 | 0 |
Dwight Howard's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* During his 2 additional NBA seasons, Dwight Howard played in one postseason. In those postseasons he averaged 4.7 points in a total of 12 games. |