3. Duncan was more efficient
Tim Duncan has Kevin Garnett beat in virtually any stat you can think of. He was a better offensive player, at least equal to him defensively, and a better player than him in the postseason. That isn’t to say that Garnett wasn’t dominant. He’s just not Duncan.
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Let’s compare the two players. During his career, Duncan averaged 19.0 points per game to Garnett’s 17.8. Had Garnett retired a bit earlier, perhaps that number is a little bit higher. But you could argue the same for Duncan. In the postseason, Duncan averaged 20.6 points per game to Garnett’s 18.2 points per game.
Duncan averaged 10.8 rebounds per game to Garnett’s 10.0 rebounds per game. Garnett also falls short in blocks per game with 1.4 to Duncan’s 2.2. However, Garnett averaged more assists than Duncan, besting him 3.7 to 3.0.
The ultimate way to determine a player’s efficiency is to look at their Player Efficiency Rating (PER). It’s not a flawless stat, but it’s the best way to determine how effective a player is. Duncan’s career PER is 24.2. Meanwhile, Garnett’s is 22.7.
Now 22.7 is nothing to sneeze at, as it’s 27th all-time. But Duncan is clearly the more efficient player. In the postseason, Duncan had a 24.3 PER compared to Garnett’s 21.1 — further proof that Duncan got it done in the postseason.