Nathaniel Clifton vs. Dave Cowens Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dave Cowens and Nathaniel Clifton, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Who had the better rookie season? Who had best stats in their 10th season? Who won a championship first? These questions and many others, are answered here.

Nathaniel Clifton played 8 years in the NBA, 3 less than Dave Cowens, who played 11. Nathaniel Clifton had the first of his seasons in 1950-51, while Dave Cowens had his rookie season in 1970-71. With that starting point, here you can take a look at each of their seasons side by side and compare how their careers evolved in achivements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11
Rookie Season
	Nathaniel Clifton	Dave Cowens
Season	1950-51	1970-71
Team	New York Knicks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Rookie of the Year
	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Knicks Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	65	-	8.6	-	-	7.6	2.5	-	-	-	4.1	3.2	10.1	.322	-	-	-	2.2	4.0	.532
Dave Cowens	81	38.0	17.0	-	-	15.0	2.8	-	-	-	4.3	6.8	16.1	.422	-	-	-	3.4	4.6	.732
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	14	-	7.1	-	-	9.8	3.3	-	-	-	4.4	2.9	8.4	.347	-	-	-	1.3	3.3	.391
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Nathaniel Clifton	Dave Cowens
Season	1951-52	1971-72
Team	New York Knicks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost NBA Finals	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	62	33.9	10.6	-	-	11.8	3.4	-	-	-	3.7	3.9	11.8	.335	-	-	-	2.7	4.1	.664
Dave Cowens	79	40.3	18.8	-	-	15.2	3.1	-	-	-	4.0	8.3	17.2	.484	-	-	-	2.2	3.1	.720
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	14	33.0	9.4	-	-	9.5	2.4	-	-	-	4.8	2.8	9.5	.293	-	-	-	3.9	5.4	.711
Dave Cowens	11	40.1	15.5	-	-	13.8	3.0	-	-	-	4.5	6.5	14.2	.455	-	-	-	2.5	4.3	.596

Season 3
	Nathaniel Clifton	Dave Cowens
Season	1952-53	1972-73
Team	New York Knicks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Knicks Lost NBA Finals	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	70	35.7	10.6	-	-	10.9	3.3	-	-	-	3.9	3.9	11.3	.343	-	-	-	2.9	4.9	.583
Dave Cowens	82	41.8	20.5	-	-	16.2	4.1	-	-	-	3.8	9.0	20.0	.452	-	-	-	2.5	3.2	.779
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	11	36.8	12.0	-	-	12.7	3.5	-	-	-	4.4	4.6	11.7	.395	-	-	-	2.7	4.3	.638
Dave Cowens	13	46.0	21.9	-	-	16.6	3.7	-	-	-	4.2	9.9	21.0	.473	-	-	-	2.1	3.2	.659

Season 4
	Nathaniel Clifton	Dave Cowens
Season	1953-54	1973-74
Team	New York Knicks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost E Div Round Robin	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	72	30.3	9.6	-	-	7.3	2.4	-	-	-	3.0	3.6	9.7	.368	-	-	-	2.4	3.8	.628
Dave Cowens	80	41.9	19.0	3.3	12.4	15.7	4.4	1.2	1.3	-	3.7	8.1	18.4	.437	-	-	-	2.9	3.4	.832
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	4	31.3	6.3	-	-	9.8	1.5	-	-	-	3.8	2.0	6.8	.296	-	-	-	2.3	4.3	.529
Dave Cowens	18	42.9	20.5	3.3	10.0	13.3	3.7	1.2	0.9	-	4.7	8.9	20.6	.435	-	-	-	2.6	3.3	.797

Season 5
	Nathaniel Clifton	Dave Cowens
Season	1954-55	1974-75
Team	New York Knicks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Div Semis	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	72	33.2	13.1	-	-	8.5	2.8	-	-	-	3.1	5.0	12.9	.386	-	-	-	3.1	4.6	.683
Dave Cowens	65	40.5	20.4	3.5	11.2	14.7	4.6	1.3	1.1	-	3.7	8.8	18.4	.475	-	-	-	2.9	3.8	.783
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	3	36.7	19.7	-	-	7.7	4.3	-	-	-	4.0	6.7	17.3	.385	-	-	-	6.3	8.0	.792
Dave Cowens	11	43.5	20.5	4.5	12.0	16.5	4.2	1.6	0.5	-	4.5	9.2	21.5	.428	-	-	-	2.1	2.4	.885

Season 6
	Nathaniel Clifton	Dave Cowens
Season	1955-56	1975-76
Team	New York Knicks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	64	24.0	8.8	-	-	6.0	2.4	-	-	-	3.0	3.3	8.5	.394	-	-	-	2.1	3.0	.707
Dave Cowens	78	39.8	19.0	4.3	11.7	16.0	4.2	1.2	0.9	-	4.0	7.8	16.7	.468	-	-	-	3.3	4.4	.756
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dave Cowens	18	44.3	21.0	4.8	11.6	16.4	4.6	1.2	0.7	-	4.7	8.7	18.9	.457	-	-	-	3.7	4.8	.759

Season 7
	Nathaniel Clifton	Dave Cowens
Season	1956-57	1976-77
Team	New York Knicks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	71	31.4	10.7	-	-	7.8	2.3	-	-	-	3.4	4.3	11.5	.377	-	-	-	2.1	3.1	.673
Dave Cowens	50	37.8	16.4	2.9	11.0	13.9	5.0	0.9	1.0	-	3.6	6.6	15.1	.434	-	-	-	3.2	4.0	.818
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dave Cowens	9	42.1	16.6	3.2	11.7	14.9	4.0	0.9	1.4	-	4.1	7.3	16.4	.446	-	-	-	1.9	2.4	.773

Season 8
	Nathaniel Clifton	Dave Cowens
Season	1957-58	1977-78
Team	Detroit Pistons	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pistons Lost West Div Finals	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	68	21.1	7.7	-	-	5.9	1.1	-	-	-	3.0	3.2	8.8	.363	-	-	-	1.3	2.1	.623
Dave Cowens	77	41.8	18.6	3.2	10.8	14.0	4.6	1.3	0.9	2.8	3.9	7.8	15.8	.490	-	-	-	3.1	3.7	.842
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	7	10.6	4.0	-	-	3.3	0.6	-	-	-	1.6	1.6	4.3	.367	-	-	-	0.9	1.1	.750
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 10
	Nathaniel Clifton	Dave Cowens
Season	-	1979-80
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dave Cowens	66	32.7	14.2	1.9	6.2	8.1	3.1	1.0	0.9	1.6	3.3	6.4	14.1	.453	0.0	0.2	.083	1.4	1.8	.779
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Nathaniel Clifton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dave Cowens	9	33.4	12.0	2.0	5.3	7.3	2.3	1.0	0.8	0.9	4.1	5.4	11.4	.476	0.0	0.2	.000	1.1	1.2	.909

Note: Dave Cowens didn't play in 1980-81 and 1981-82.