Vince Carter vs. Paul Pierce: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Paul Pierce and Vince Carter 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 and Vince Carter are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 52,125 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 Paul Pierce has better scoring stats than Vince Carter 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, Paul Pierce averages 3 points more than Vince Carter in his 22 seasons (19.7 points against 16.7), and he also scored a total of 669 points more (26,397 vs. 25,728).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Vince Carter | 16.7 | 22 | |
| Paul Pierce | 19.7 | +3.0 | 19 |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Vince Carter | 25,728 | 22 | |
| Paul Pierce | 26,397 | +669 | 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 Vince Carter (+0.6 points per game) and he also scored more points (+1,587).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Vince Carter | 18.1 | 11 | |
| Paul Pierce | 18.7 | +0.6 | 14 |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Vince Carter | 1,593 | 11 | |
| Paul Pierce | 3,180 | +1,587 | 14 |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Vince Carter | 597 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 668 | +71 | ||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Vince Carter | 1,094 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 1,161 | +67 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Vince Carter | 1,473 | +151 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 1,322 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Vince Carter | 68 | +47 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 21 | |||
Playoffs
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Vince Carter | 1 | +1 | ||
| Paul Pierce | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Vince Carter | 40 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 73 | +33 | ||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Vince Carter | 68 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 148 | +80 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Vince Carter | 88 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 165 | +77 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Vince Carter | 0 | |||
| Paul Pierce | 5 | +5 | ||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Vince Carter | 16.7 | 6.0 | 13.8 | 43.5 | 1.5 | 4.0 | 37.1 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 79.8 | 22 | 1,541 |
| difference: | +3.0 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +1.0 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +2.1 | +2.5 | +0.8 | +3 | +198 |
| 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 | ||||
| Vince Carter | 25,728 | 9,293 | 21,339 | 43.5 | 2,290 | 6,168 | 37.1 | 4,852 | 6,082 | 79.8 | 22 | 1,541 |
| difference: | +669 | +625 | +1,874 | +1.0 | +147 | +352 | +0.3 | +2,066 | +2,496 | +0.8 | +3 | +198 |
| 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 | ||||
| Vince Carter | 18.1 | 6.3 | 15.2 | 41.6 | 1.4 | 4.0 | 33.8 | 4.1 | 5.1 | 79.6 | 11 | 88 |
| difference: | +0.6 | +0.3 | +1.0 | +0.8 | +0.2 | +0.6 | +1.7 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +3.4 | +3 | +82 |
| 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 | ||||
| Vince Carter | 1,593 | 557 | 1,340 | 41.6 | 119 | 352 | 33.8 | 360 | 452 | 79.6 | 11 | 88 |
| difference: | +1,587 | +465 | +1,075 | +0.8 | +157 | +425 | +1.7 | +500 | +584 | +3.4 | +3 | +82 |
| 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
Vince Carter's additional seasons: | ||||
* Vince Carter played 5 seasons more than Paul Pierce in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 20 to 24, from 2016 to 2020—he averaged 6.6 points in a total of 327 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 8 ppg and his lowest 5. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Vince Carter | - | DNP | 1999 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 1999 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Vince Carter | 19.3 | +19.3 | 2000 | 3 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2000 | 0 |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Vince Carter | 27.3 | +27.3 | 2001 | 12 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2001 | 0 |
Season 4 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Vince Carter | - | DNP | 2002 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 24.6 | +24.6 | 2002 | 16 |
Season 5 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Vince Carter | - | DNP | 2003 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 27.1 | +27.1 | 2003 | 10 |
Season 6 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Vince Carter | - | DNP | 2004 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 20.8 | +20.8 | 2004 | 4 |
Season 8 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Vince Carter | 26.8 | +26.8 | 2005 | 4 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2006 | 0 |
Season 9 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Vince Carter | 26.8 | +26.8 | 2005 | 4 |
| Paul Pierce | - | DNP | 2007 | 0 |
Season 12 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Vince Carter | - | DNP | 2008 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 18.8 | +18.8 | 2010 | 24 |
Season 13 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Vince Carter | - | DNP | 2009 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 20.8 | +20.8 | 2011 | 9 |
Season 15 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Vince Carter | - | DNP | 2011 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 19.2 | +19.2 | 2013 | 6 |
Season 17 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Vince Carter | - | DNP | 2013 | 0 |
| Paul Pierce | 14.6 | +14.6 | 2015 | 10 |
Vince Carter's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* During his 5 additional NBA seasons, Vince Carter played in two Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 10.0 points in a total of 10 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 11.3 ppg and his lowest 9.2. |