Stephen Curry vs. Paul Pierce: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Paul Pierce 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.

Paul Pierce and Stephen Curry are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 51,783 points—. Stephen Curry is also one of the all-time leaders in points per game. 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 Stephen Curry has better scoring averages both in the regular season and Playoffs and also scored more points in during the postseason while Paul Pierce 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 16 NBA regular seasons played, Stephen Curry averages 5 points more than Paul Pierce in his 19 seasons (24.7 points against 19.7). On the other hand Paul Pierce scored a total of 1,011 points more than Stephen Curry (26,397 vs. 25,386).

Points Per Game			Seasons
Stephen Curry	24.7	+5.0	16
Paul Pierce	19.7		19

Total Points			Seasons
Stephen Curry	25,386		16
Paul Pierce	26,397	+1,011	19

Scoring Titles
Stephen Curry	2	+2
Paul Pierce	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
Stephen Curry	17.5	+1.0	2010	80
Paul Pierce	16.5		1999	48

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	18.6		2011	74
Paul Pierce	19.5	+0.9	2000	73

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	14.7		2012	26
Paul Pierce	25.3	+10.6	2001	82

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	22.9		2013	78
Paul Pierce	26.1	+3.2	2002	82

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	24.0		2014	78
Paul Pierce	25.9	+1.9	2003	79

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	23.8	+0.8	2015	80
Paul Pierce	23.0		2004	80

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	30.1	+8.5	2016	79
Paul Pierce	21.6		2005	82

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	25.3		2017	79
Paul Pierce	26.8	+1.5	2006	79

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	26.4	+1.4	2018	51
Paul Pierce	25.0		2007	47

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	27.3	+7.7	2019	69
Paul Pierce	19.6		2008	80

Season 11	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	20.8	+0.3	2020	5
Paul Pierce	20.5		2009	81

Season 12	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	32.0	+13.7	2021	63
Paul Pierce	18.3		2010	71

Season 13	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	25.5	+6.6	2022	64
Paul Pierce	18.9		2011	80

Season 14	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	29.4	+10.0	2023	56
Paul Pierce	19.4		2012	61

Season 15	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	26.4	+7.8	2024	74
Paul Pierce	18.6		2013	77

Season 16	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	24.5	+11.0	2025	70
Paul Pierce	13.5		2014	75

Paul Pierce's additional seasons:

* Paul Pierce played 3 seasons more than Stephen Curry in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 17 to 19, from 2015 to 2017—he averaged 8.2 points in a total of 166 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 11.9 ppg and his lowest 3.2.

Playoffs

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	-	DNP	2010	0
Paul Pierce	-	DNP	1999	0

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	-	DNP	2011	0
Paul Pierce	-	DNP	2000	0

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	-	DNP	2012	0
Paul Pierce	-	DNP	2001	0

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	23.4		2013	12
Paul Pierce	24.6	+1.2	2002	16

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	23.0		2014	7
Paul Pierce	27.1	+4.1	2003	10

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	28.3	+7.5	2015	21
Paul Pierce	20.8		2004	4

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	25.1	+2.2	2016	18
Paul Pierce	22.9		2005	7

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	28.1	+28.1	2017	17
Paul Pierce	-	DNP	2006	0

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	25.5	+25.5	2018	15
Paul Pierce	-	DNP	2007	0

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	28.2	+8.5	2019	22
Paul Pierce	19.7		2008	26

Season 11	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	-	DNP	2020	0
Paul Pierce	21.0	+21.0	2009	14

Season 12	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	-	DNP	2021	0
Paul Pierce	18.8	+18.8	2010	24

Season 13	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	27.4	+6.6	2022	22
Paul Pierce	20.8		2011	9

Season 14	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	30.5	+11.6	2023	13
Paul Pierce	18.9		2012	20

Season 15	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	-	DNP	2024	0
Paul Pierce	19.2	+19.2	2013	6

Season 16	Points per game		Year	Games
Stephen Curry	22.6	+8.9	2025	8
Paul Pierce	13.7		2014	12

Paul Pierce's additional Playoffs:

* During his 3 additional NBA seasons, Paul Pierce played in 3 Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 7.9 points in a total of 22 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 14.6 ppg and his lowest 1.2.