If JJ never gets a 50 point game

[Atlantaholic]

I was looking at the espn website and saw that Andre Miller scored 52 points tonight. I started thinking that Miller is probably one of the most unlikely starters in the league to drop fifty ... Then I started to think about the fact that JJ has never had a 50 point game, and that pretty much all the active players who are on his "level" (Pierce, Carter, Redd etc.) have had 1 or more 50 point games.

So I guess the question is... if JJ is not the best player (scorer) to get fifty, who are the players in NBA history who have had a better average career scoring mark (I believe it's 17.5) but who never had a 50 point game?

Edited January 31, 2010 by Atlantaholic

[Plainview1981]

I was looking at the espn website and saw that Andre Miller scored 52 points tonight. I started thinking that Miller is probably one of the most unlikely starters in the league to drop fifty ... Then I started to think about the fact that JJ has never had a 50 point game, and that pretty much all the active players who are on his "level" (Pierce, Carter, Redd etc.) have had 1 or more 50 point games.

So I guess the question is... if JJ is not the best player (scorer) to get fifty, who are the players in NBA history who have had a better average career scoring mark (I believe it's 17.5) but who never had a 50 point game?

KG's career high is 47 points.

[dlpin]

List of games where a player scored 50 or more points:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=50pointsinagame

It's a bit outdated (I think its from 2008), but you can look if any historical figures are there.

Players who never scored 50 points or more:

Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Charles Barkley, James Worhy, Reggie Lewis, Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway, Doctor J ... and that is off the top of my head.

[Atlantaholic]

Pretty interesting that there are so many great players that never got 50... Kind of makes you realize just how difficult it is to be able to do that.

[AHF]

Pretty interesting that there are so many great players that never got 50... Kind of makes you realize just how difficult it is to be able to do that.

Partly the degree of difficulty and partly the drive to take that many shots. Guys like Isiah and Magic easily could have done it had they taken the attitude of someone like Allen Iverson. Instead, they always worked to involve teammates even when they were "on" offensively.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Partly the degree of difficulty and partly the drive to take that many shots. Guys like Isiah and Magic easily could have done it had they taken the attitude of someone like Allen Iverson. Instead, they always worked to involve teammates even when they were "on" offensively.

Exactly.

But around here, when JJ attempts 5 or 6 shots in a quarter, he's being "selfish".

Miller took 31 shots in that game. JJ has taken 30 shots only 6 times in his Hawk career ( 3 times this year ). Hawks are 2 - 4 when he takes 30+ shots.

[AUhawksfan]

I think JJ's inability to get to the free throw line is going to keep him from getting to 50. If you look at some of the games where players score that much, they're usually getting at least 10 free throw attempts in.

[TheTruth]

Man, I wish he would get to the line more...he scores just about as many points as field go attempts most games because of that.

[AtLaS]

Carmelo had never had a 50 point game until this season, he scored 50 against the Knicks.

Free throws are the reason JJ can't get there. It's ashame because in terms of field goals made he's up there with all the elite scorers, yet he only averages 21 a game. JJ will commonly have a 13-26 night and only have 29 points. Whereas Kobe or LeBron would score 40+ on a night like that. That's the only thing keeping him from being an elite scorer.