Tim Duncan vs. Dirk Nowitzki: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Dirk Nowitzki and Tim Duncan 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
Dirk Nowitzki and Tim Duncan are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 58,056 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 Dirk Nowitzki has better scoring averages both in the regular season and Playoffs and also scored more total points during the season while Tim Duncan scored more points in the postseason. 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 21 NBA regular seasons played, Dirk Nowitzki averages 1.7 points more than Tim Duncan in his 19 seasons (20.7 points against 19.0), and he also scored a total of 5,064 points more (31,560 vs. 26,496).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Tim Duncan | 19.0 | 19 | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 20.7 | +1.7 | 21 |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Tim Duncan | 26,496 | 19 | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 31,560 | +5,064 | 21 |
Points in the Playoffs
In the NBA postseason Dirk Nowitzki has a better career point average than Tim Duncan (+4.7 points per game) while Tim Duncan scored more points (+1,509).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Tim Duncan | 20.6 | 18 | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 25.3 | +4.7 | 15 |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Tim Duncan | 5,172 | +1,509 | 18 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 3,663 | 15 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 639 | |||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 861 | +222 | ||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 1,256 | |||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 1,373 | +117 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 1,390 | |||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 1,509 | +119 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 2 | |||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 13 | +11 | ||
Playoffs
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 0 | |||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 1 | +1 | ||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 137 | +28 | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 109 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 232 | +90 | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 142 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 250 | +105 | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 145 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 1 | +1 | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 0 | |||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 19.0 | 7.4 | 14.6 | 50.6 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 17.9 | 4.2 | 6.1 | 69.6 | 19 | 1,392 |
| difference: | +1.7 | +0.1 | +1.0 | +3.5 | +1.3 | +3.3 | +20.1 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +18.3 | +2 | +130 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 20.7 | 7.3 | 15.6 | 47.1 | 1.3 | 3.4 | 38.0 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 87.9 | 21 | 1,522 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 26,496 | 10,285 | 20,334 | 50.6 | 30 | 168 | 17.9 | 5,896 | 8,468 | 69.6 | 19 | 1,392 |
| difference: | +5,064 | +884 | +3,400 | +3.5 | +1,952 | +5,042 | +20.1 | +1,344 | +229 | +18.3 | +2 | +130 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 31,560 | 11,169 | 23,734 | 47.1 | 1,982 | 5,210 | 38.0 | 7,240 | 8,239 | 87.9 | 21 | 1,522 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 20.6 | 7.9 | 15.7 | 50.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 14.3 | 4.8 | 7.0 | 68.9 | 18 | 251 |
| difference: | +4.7 | +0.5 | +2.5 | +4.0 | +1.0 | +2.7 | +22.2 | +2.6 | +1.3 | +20.3 | +3 | +106 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 25.3 | 8.4 | 18.2 | 46.2 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 36.5 | 7.4 | 8.3 | 89.2 | 15 | 145 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 5,172 | 1,975 | 3,939 | 50.1 | 5 | 35 | 14.3 | 1,217 | 1,766 | 68.9 | 18 | 251 |
| difference: | +1,509 | +755 | +1,297 | +4.0 | +144 | +373 | +22.2 | +143 | +562 | +20.3 | +3 | +106 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 3,663 | 1,220 | 2,642 | 46.2 | 149 | 408 | 36.5 | 1,074 | 1,204 | 89.2 | 15 | 145 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Dirk Nowitzki's additional seasons: | ||||
* Dirk Nowitzki played 2 seasons more than Tim Duncan in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 20 to 21, from 2018 to 2019—he averaged 10.2 points in a total of 128 regular season games. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Tim Duncan | 20.7 | +20.7 | 1998 | 9 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 1999 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Tim Duncan | 23.2 | +23.2 | 1999 | 17 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2000 | 0 |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Tim Duncan | - | DNP | 2000 | 0 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 23.4 | +23.4 | 2001 | 10 |
Season 15 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Tim Duncan | 17.4 | +17.4 | 2012 | 14 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2013 | 0 |
Season 19 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Tim Duncan | 5.9 | +5.9 | 2016 | 10 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2017 | 0 |
Dirk Nowitzki's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* During his 2 additional NBA seasons, Dirk Nowitzki didn't play in the postseason. |