Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul Pierce, a longtime member of the Boston Celtics, moved into 15th place on the NBA’s All-Time scoring list with a circus and-one shot in the fourth quarter of LA’s 125-96 victory over the Houston Rockets.
How did that go in?!?— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 11, 2017
With this bucket, @paulpierce34 passed John Havlicek for 15th on the NBA all-time scoring list! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/kRVEphxMg7
The basket gave Pierce 26,397 points for his 19-year career, moving him past another Celtics legend —Hall of Famer John Havlicek (26,395 career points)—in scoring as the 39-year-old forward added one last accolade in his final season in the league.
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| (NBA.com) |
Havlicek, who played all 16 seasons of his career with the Celtics, remains the franchise’s all-time leading scorer. Pierce spent the first 15 years of his career with the Celtics—before being traded to the Brooklyn Nets in the 2013 offseason—accumulating 24,021 points with Boston, the second-most in franchise history. Pierce is the Celtics' all-time leader in three-pointers, free throws and steals and ranks fourth in blocks, fifth in assists and seventh in rebounds.
After one-year stints with the Nets and the Washington Wizards, Pierce has played out the final two seasons of his career with the Clippers.
Now a reserve player, he has seen action in just 24 games this season. He played only seven minutes in Thursday’s win, scoring a season-high 10 points. All of Pierce’s points came in a three-minute stretch in the contest’s final period in which he buried two three-pointers from the top of the key, nailed a step-back jumper on the left baseline and concluded his mini scoring burst with the and-one bucket that helped the 10-time All-Star and former NBA Finals MVP become a top-15 scorer in league history.
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar* | 38387 |
| 2. | Karl Malone* | 36928 |
| 3. | Kobe Bryant | 33643 |
| 4. | Michael Jordan* | 32292 |
| 5. | Wilt Chamberlain* | 31419 |
| 6. | Dirk Nowitzki | 30239 |
| 7. | LeBron James | 28787 |
| 8. | Shaquille O'Neal* | 28596 |
| 9. | Moses Malone* | 27409 |
| 10. | Elvin Hayes* | 27313 |
| 11. | Hakeem Olajuwon* | 26946 |
| 12. | Oscar Robertson* | 26710 |
| 13. | Dominique Wilkins* | 26668 |
| 14. | Tim Duncan | 26496 |
| 15. | Paul Pierce | 26397 |
| 16. | John Havlicek* | 26395 |
| 17. | Kevin Garnett | 26071 |
| 18. | Alex English* | 25613 |
| 19. | Reggie Miller* | 25279 |
| 20. | Jerry West* | 25192 |
| 21. | Patrick Ewing* | 24815 |
| 22. | Vince Carter | 24550 |
| 23. | Ray Allen | 24505 |
| 24. | Allen Iverson* | 24368 |
| 25. | Carmelo Anthony | 24139 |
(Via ESPN)
*Elected into Hall of Fame
Bold indicates Active Player
