Dwight Howard: Where Does Superman's Scoring Binge Rank in NBA Playoff History?

Dwight Howard had quite the evening. He was utterly dominating in the first half, scoring 31 points. He finished the game with 46 points and 19 rebounds, with teammate Jameer Nelson scoring 27 points. 

Sounds like another blowout victory over the Hawks for the Magic, right?

More like a 10-point loss.

Unfortunately, the rest of the Orlando Magic decided not to show up, and the Atlanta Hawks won 103-93 in what turned out to be the shocker in Day One of the 2011 NBA Playoffs.

The question must be asked: Where does Howard's performance rank in NBA postseason history?

Guards Lighting It Up in the Postseason

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CHICAGO, IL - MARCH 12: Former player Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls addresses the crowd as teammate Scottie Pippen listens during a 20th anniversary recognition ceremony of the Bulls 1st NBA Championship in 1991 during half-time of a game bewteen th

To be fair, I'll split it up between guards and big men. As you can probably imagine, there's been a bevy of offensive explosions by guards in NBA's rich playoff history.

Really, where to start?

-Michael Jordan's 63-point showing against the Celtics in the Boston Garden in the 1986 playoffs is the gold standard for me.

-Jordan has about 10 other ridiculous playoff games when he scored more than 40 points. MJ set the bar rather high.

-LeBron James' jaw-dropping 48 points in Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons in which he scored his team's final 25 and 29 of its final 30 points is undoubtedly in the top five playoff performances.

-How about Ray Allen's 51 against the Chicago Bulls in the first-round of the 2009 playoffs? Unreal. In a loss, too.

-Same goes for Kobe. He scored 50 against the Phoenix Suns in the 2006 playoffs, but lost.

-Can't leave out Allen Iverson's double nickel against the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2003 postseason. Iverson scored 50-plus three separate times. He really was the Answer.  

Those instantly come to mind. And for the big men...  

Big Men Dominating in the Postseason

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Don't count out the big men, either. They've had their fair share of epic scoring performances in the playoffs.

-Elgin Baylor dropped 61 as a Laker in the 1962 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. Not too bad either. No three-point line.

-The Mailman, Karl Malone, delivered for the Utah Jazz scored 50 against the Seattle SuperSonics in the spring of 2000. Lots of pick and rolls in that game. 

-Wilt Chamberlain cruised his way to 56 with the Philadelphia Warriors against the Syracuse Nationals in March 1962. (He scored 53 two years earlier against the same team. Talk about domination

-Sir Charles Barkley went off on the Golden State Warriors to the tune of 56 points in the first-round of the 1994 Western Conference playoffs. 

So, where does Howard's performance rank?

His 31 first half had the potential to morph into something extremely special, but I'd place it right below these four legends' efforts. Don't forget Howard ripped down 19 rebounds as well.

How Bad Were the Orlando Magic in Game 1?

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Where to begin? 

Howard scored 46. Nelson finished with 27. 

No one else scored more than six. 

How does that happen? They were 6-22 from three. Hedo Turkoglu played 38 minutes, was 2-9 from the floor and had six points?

Are you kidding me—in the playoff opener in front of your home crowd?

Gilbert Arenas, anyone? How about Jason Richardson? 

The Atlanta Hawks struggled down the stretch, but they're an extremely talented and athletic group of guys that are fed up with their past postseason struggles. 

Dwight Howard's nickname is Superman, but he certainly can't do it all. 

One of the biggest supporting cast no-shows all-time, that's for sure. 

Looking Ahead to the Rest of the Series

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Dwight Howard's monster game is something I envision happening again in this series.

Josh Smith is big and physical, but I don't see him being that committed on the defensive end. 

Even if he is, Howard's presence down low is something Atlanta will have a very tough time limiting, much less stopping.

Al Horford provides more defensively, but he can't keep Howard from getting positioned deep in the paint and finishing without fouling. 

In the end, I think the Magic's role players get hot and rebound from their paltry effort in Game 1.

There's no way Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu and J.J. Redick stay cold much longer.

Orlando's proved all year they can bounce back and should be able to make this a series.

However, it's not going to be easy.

The Hawks' confidence is as high as it has ever been, and playing inside the "Highlight Factory" is undoubtedly a tough task.  

The Magic will win in seven games.