Steve Nash vs. Paul Pierce: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Paul Pierce and Steve Nash 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
Paul Pierce is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points and here we compare his scoring stats with those recorded by Steve Nash.
By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Paul Pierce has better scoring stats than Steve Nash 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: |
|
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, Paul Pierce averages 5.4 points more than Steve Nash in his 18 seasons (19.7 points against 14.3), and he also scored a total of 9,010 points more (26,397 vs. 17,387).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Steve Nash | 14.3 | 18 | |
| Paul Pierce | 19.7 | +5.4 | 19 |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Steve Nash | 17,387 | 18 | |
| Paul Pierce | 26,397 | +9,010 | 19 |
Points in the Playoffs
Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Paul Pierce has a better career point average than Steve Nash (+1.4 points per game) and he also scored more points (+1,108).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Steve Nash | 17.3 | 12 | |
| Paul Pierce | 18.7 | +1.4 | 14 |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Steve Nash | 2,072 | 12 | |
| Paul Pierce | 3,180 | +1,108 | 14 |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Steve Nash | 0 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 1 | +1 | ||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Steve Nash | 309 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 668 | +359 | ||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Steve Nash | 875 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 1,161 | +286 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Steve Nash | 1,177 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 1,322 | +145 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Steve Nash | 40 | +19 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 21 | |||
Playoffs
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Steve Nash | 48 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 73 | +25 | ||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Steve Nash | 103 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 148 | +45 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Steve Nash | 115 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 165 | +50 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Steve Nash | 5 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 5 | |||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Steve Nash | 14.3 | 5.2 | 10.6 | 49.0 | 1.4 | 3.2 | 42.8 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 90.4 | 18 | 1,217 |
| difference: | +5.4 | +1.3 | +3.9 | +4.5 | +0.2 | +1.1 | +6.0 | +2.7 | +3.6 | +9.8 | +1 | +126 |
| 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 | ||||
| Steve Nash | 17,387 | 6,321 | 12,892 | 49.0 | 1,685 | 3,939 | 42.8 | 3,060 | 3,384 | 90.4 | 18 | 1,217 |
| difference: | +9,010 | +2,347 | +6,573 | +4.5 | +458 | +1,877 | +6.0 | +3,858 | +5,194 | +9.8 | +1 | +126 |
| 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 | ||||
| Steve Nash | 17.3 | 6.2 | 13.2 | 47.3 | 1.5 | 3.7 | 40.6 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 90.0 | 12 | 120 |
| difference: | +1.4 | +0.2 | +1.0 | +5.0 | +0.1 | +0.9 | +5.1 | +1.8 | +2.4 | +7.0 | +2 | +50 |
| 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 | ||||
| Steve Nash | 2,072 | 749 | 1,584 | 47.3 | 178 | 438 | 40.6 | 396 | 440 | 90.0 | 12 | 120 |
| difference: | +1,108 | +273 | +831 | +5.0 | +98 | +339 | +5.1 | +464 | +596 | +7.0 | +2 | +50 |
| 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 ChampionRegular Season
Paul Pierce's additional seasons: | ||||
* Paul Pierce played 1 season more than Steve Nash in the NBA. In that year—his season 19 in 2017—he averaged 3.2 points in a total of 25 regular season games. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Steve Nash | 1.3 | +1.3 | 1997 | 4 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 1999 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Steve Nash | 5.5 | +5.5 | 1998 | 4 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2000 | 0 |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Steve Nash | - | DNP | 1999 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2001 | 0 |
Season 4 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Steve Nash | - | DNP | 2000 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 24.6 | +24.6 | 2002 | 16 |
Season 8 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Steve Nash | 13.6 | +13.6 | 2004 | 5 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2006 | 0 |
Season 9 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Steve Nash | 23.9 | +23.9 | 2005 | 15 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2007 | 0 |
Season 13 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Steve Nash | - | DNP | 2009 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 20.8 | +20.8 | 2011 | 9 |
Season 15 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Steve Nash | - | DNP | 2011 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 19.2 | +19.2 | 2013 | 6 |
Season 16 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Steve Nash | - | DNP | 2012 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 13.7 | +13.7 | 2014 | 12 |
Season 18 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Steve Nash | - | DNP | 2014 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 1.2 | +1.2 | 2016 | 5 |
Paul Pierce's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* In his additional NBA year, Paul Pierce played in the Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 3.0 points in a total of 7 games. |