Tim Duncan vs. Kevin Garnett: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Kevin Garnett 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
Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 52,567 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 Tim Duncan has better scoring stats than Kevin Garnett 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, Tim Duncan averages 1.2 points more than Kevin Garnett in his 21 seasons (19.0 points against 17.8), and he also scored a total of 425 points more (26,496 vs. 26,071).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Tim Duncan | 19.0 | +1.2 | 19 |
| Kevin Garnett | 17.8 | 21 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Tim Duncan | 26,496 | +425 | 19 |
| Kevin Garnett | 26,071 | 21 | |
Points in the Playoffs
Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Tim Duncan has a better career point average than Kevin Garnett (+2.4 points per game) and he also scored more points (+2,571).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Tim Duncan | 20.6 | +2.4 | 18 |
| Kevin Garnett | 18.2 | 14 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Tim Duncan | 5,172 | +2,571 | 18 |
| Kevin Garnett | 2,601 | 14 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 1 | +1 | ||
| Kevin Garnett | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 639 | +8 | ||
| Kevin Garnett | 631 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 1,256 | |||
| Kevin Garnett | 1,260 | +4 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 1,390 | |||
| Kevin Garnett | 1,449 | +59 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 2 | |||
| Kevin Garnett | 13 | +11 | ||
Playoffs
40+ Point Games | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 4 | +4 | ||
| Kevin Garnett | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 137 | +79 | ||
| Kevin Garnett | 58 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 232 | +104 | ||
| Kevin Garnett | 128 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 250 | +108 | ||
| Kevin Garnett | 142 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Tim Duncan | 1 | |||
| Kevin Garnett | 1 | |||
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: | +1.2 | +0.2 | +0.1 | +0.9 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +9.6 | +0.9 | +1.9 | +9.3 | +2 | +70 |
| Kevin Garnett | 17.8 | 7.2 | 14.5 | 49.7 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 27.5 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 78.9 | 21 | 1,462 |
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: | +425 | +220 | +808 | +0.9 | +144 | +464 | +9.6 | +1,009 | +2,278 | +9.3 | +2 | +70 |
| Kevin Garnett | 26,071 | 10,505 | 21,142 | 49.7 | 174 | 632 | 27.5 | 4,887 | 6,190 | 78.9 | 21 | 1,462 |
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: | +2.4 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +2.4 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +13.0 | +1.5 | +2.9 | +10.0 | +4 | +108 |
| Kevin Garnett | 18.2 | 7.4 | 15.5 | 47.8 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 27.3 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 78.9 | 14 | 143 |
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: | +2,571 | +916 | +1,723 | +2.4 | +10 | +20 | +13.0 | +749 | +1,173 | +10.0 | +4 | +108 |
| Kevin Garnett | 2,601 | 1,059 | 2,216 | 47.8 | 15 | 55 | 27.3 | 468 | 593 | 78.9 | 14 | 143 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Kevin Garnett's additional seasons: | ||||
* Kevin Garnett played 3 seasons more than Tim Duncan in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 20 to 22, from 2015 to 2016—he averaged 5.8 points in a total of 132 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 6.9 ppg and his lowest 3.2. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Tim Duncan | 20.7 | +20.7 | 1998 | 9 |
| Kevin Garnett | - | DNP | 1996 | 0 |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Tim Duncan | - | DNP | 2000 | 0 |
| Kevin Garnett | 15.8 | +15.8 | 1998 | 5 |
Season 10 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Tim Duncan | 22.2 | +22.2 | 2007 | 20 |
| Kevin Garnett | - | DNP | 2005 | 0 |
Season 11 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Tim Duncan | 20.2 | +20.2 | 2008 | 17 |
| Kevin Garnett | - | DNP | 2006 | 0 |
Season 12 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Tim Duncan | 19.8 | +19.8 | 2009 | 5 |
| Kevin Garnett | - | DNP | 2007 | 0 |
Season 14 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Tim Duncan | 12.7 | +12.7 | 2011 | 6 |
| Kevin Garnett | - | DNP | 2009 | 0 |
Kevin Garnett's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* During his 3 additional NBA seasons, Kevin Garnett didn't play in the postseason. |