The 21 greatest NBA players who never scored 50 points in a game

17) Dwight Howard

During his 18-year career, Dwight Howard was primarily known for his elite defense and rebounding, but he was also an efficient scorer during his heyday. Howard finished just 615 points shy of 20,000 career points and averaged at least 20 points per game four times during his time with the Orlando Magic. This despite him never becoming the post-player that many had hoped he would. Instead, he was a terrific pick-and-roll big man who could finish just about any lob tossed his way.

That culminated with his career high of 45 points on 16-23 shooting against the Charlotte Bobcats. Had he been a better free-throw shooter, he might have reached the 50-point milestone. In fact, Howard had a higher career field goal percentage (.587) than free throw percentage (56.7).

That limited his offensive ceiling some, though he was still plenty impactful on both ends of the floor even when teams resorted to hack-a-Howard. Howard eventually went from being a star to a role player, which allowed him to extend his career for several seasons and bolster his case for the Hall of Fame.