Tim Duncan vs. Scottie Pippen: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Scottie Pippen 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.

Tim Duncan is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points and here we compare his scoring stats with those recorded by Scottie Pippen.

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 Scottie Pippen 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.

Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?

Points in the Regular Season

In his 19 NBA regular seasons played, Tim Duncan averages 2.9 points more than Scottie Pippen in his 17 seasons (19.0 points against 16.1), and he also scored a total of 7,556 points more (26,496 vs. 18,940).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Tim Duncan 19.0
+2.9
19
Scottie Pippen 16.1
17

Total Points

Seasons
Tim Duncan 26,496
+7,556
19
Scottie Pippen 18,940
17

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 Scottie Pippen (+3.1 points per game) and he also scored more points (+1,530).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Tim Duncan 20.6
+3.1
18
Scottie Pippen 17.5
16

Total Points

Playoffs
Tim Duncan 5,172
+1,530
18
Scottie Pippen 3,642
16

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

50+ Point Games

Tim Duncan 1
+1
Scottie Pippen 0

40+ Point Games

Tim Duncan 5
Scottie Pippen 5

30+ Point Games

Tim Duncan 122
+73
Scottie Pippen 49

20+ Point Games

Tim Duncan 639
+272
Scottie Pippen 367

10+ Point Games

Tim Duncan 1,256
+313
Scottie Pippen 943

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Tim Duncan 1,390
+230
Scottie Pippen 1,160

0 Point Games (games without points)

Tim Duncan 2
Scottie Pippen 18
+16

Playoffs

40+ Point Games

Tim Duncan 4
+4
Scottie Pippen 0

30+ Point Games

Tim Duncan 36
+30
Scottie Pippen 6

20+ Point Games

Tim Duncan 137
+50
Scottie Pippen 87

10+ Point Games

Tim Duncan 232
+54
Scottie Pippen 178

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Tim Duncan 250
+44
Scottie Pippen 206

0 Point Games (games without points)

Tim Duncan 1
Scottie Pippen 2
+1

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

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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:+2.9+1.1+1.3+3.3+0.8+2.4+14.7+1.5+2.3+0.8+2+214
Scottie Pippen 16.1 6.3 13.3 47.3 0.8 2.5 32.6 2.7 3.8 70.4 17 1,178

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:+7,556+2,865+4,634+3.3+948+2,834+14.7+2,774+4,031+0.8+2+214
Scottie Pippen 18,940 7,420 15,700 47.3 978 3,002 32.6 3,122 4,437 70.4 17 1,178

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:+3.1+1.5+1.2+5.8+1.0+3.1+16.0+1.1+1.9+3.5+2+43
Scottie Pippen 17.5 6.4 14.5 44.4 1.0 3.2 30.3 3.7 5.1 72.4 16 208

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:+1,530+640+930+5.8+195+625+16.0+445+699+3.5+2+43
Scottie Pippen 3,642 1,335 3,009 44.4 200 660 30.3 772 1,067 72.4 16 208

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

NBA Champion = NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 21.1
+13.2
199882
Scottie Pippen 7.9
198879

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 21.7
+7.3
1999NBA Champion50
Scottie Pippen 14.4
198973

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 23.2
+6.7
200074
Scottie Pippen 16.5
199082

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 22.2
+4.4
200182
Scottie Pippen 17.8
1991NBA Champion82

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 25.5
+4.5
200282
Scottie Pippen 21.0
1992NBA Champion82

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 23.3
+4.7
2003NBA Champion81
Scottie Pippen 18.6
1993NBA Champion81

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 22.3
+0.3
200469
Scottie Pippen 22.0
199472

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 20.3
2005NBA Champion66
Scottie Pippen 21.4
+1.1
199579

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 18.6
200680
Scottie Pippen 19.4
+0.8
1996NBA Champion77

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 20.0
2007NBA Champion80
Scottie Pippen 20.2
+0.2
1997NBA Champion82

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 19.3
+0.2
200878
Scottie Pippen 19.1
1998NBA Champion44

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 19.3
+4.8
200975
Scottie Pippen 14.5
199950

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 17.9
+5.4
201078
Scottie Pippen 12.5
200082

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 13.4
+2.1
201176
Scottie Pippen 11.3
200164

Season 15

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 15.4
+4.8
201258
Scottie Pippen 10.6
200262

Season 16

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 17.8
+7.0
201369
Scottie Pippen 10.8
200364

Season 17

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 15.1
+9.2
2014NBA Champion74
Scottie Pippen 5.9
200423

Tim Duncan's additional seasons:

* Tim Duncan played 2 seasons more than Scottie Pippen in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 18 to 19, from 2015 to 2016—he averaged 11.5 points in a total of 138 regular season games.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 20.7
+10.7
19989
Scottie Pippen 10.0
198810

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 23.2
+10.1
1999NBA Champion17
Scottie Pippen 13.1
198917

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan -
DNP
20000
Scottie Pippen 19.3
+19.3
199015

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 24.4
+2.8
200113
Scottie Pippen 21.6
1991NBA Champion17

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 27.6
+8.1
20029
Scottie Pippen 19.5
1992NBA Champion22

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 24.7
+4.6
2003NBA Champion24
Scottie Pippen 20.1
1993NBA Champion19

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 22.1
200410
Scottie Pippen 22.8
+0.7
199410

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 23.6
+5.8
2005NBA Champion23
Scottie Pippen 17.8
199510

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 25.8
+8.9
200613
Scottie Pippen 16.9
1996NBA Champion18

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 22.2
+3.0
2007NBA Champion20
Scottie Pippen 19.2
1997NBA Champion19

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 20.2
+3.4
200817
Scottie Pippen 16.8
1998NBA Champion21

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 19.8
+1.5
20095
Scottie Pippen 18.3
19994

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 19.0
+4.1
201010
Scottie Pippen 14.9
200016

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 12.7
20116
Scottie Pippen 13.7
+1.0
20013

Season 15

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 17.4
+1.1
201214
Scottie Pippen 16.3
20023

Season 16

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 18.1
+12.3
201321
Scottie Pippen 5.8
20034

Season 17

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 16.3
+16.3
2014NBA Champion23
Scottie Pippen -
DNP
20040

Tim Duncan's additional Playoffs:

* During his 2 additional NBA seasons, Tim Duncan played in two Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 10.8 points in a total of 17 games.