How does Paolo Banchero's career night compare to other 50-point games in Magic history?

If you're not on the Banchero Bandwagon yet, you're running out of time to reserve your spot before we leave the station. Last night, the Orlando Magic star — a word you might need to put "super" in front of soon — exploded for 50 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists in a win against Indiana. Banchero scored a franchise record-tying 37 points in the first half and reached the 50-point mark via fourth-quarter free throw. He shot 16 for 26 from the field, 15 for 22 from the free throw line and 3 for 9 from 3-point range.

Banchero was in attack mode all night but never got tunnel vision to the hoop as players can do when they're having big scoring nights; he still somehow let the game come to him, got his teammates involved, made smart reads, knew when to attack and when to concede the ball to someone else. Few players are as fun to watch as a locked-in Paolo because his rare mix of size and handles make you think "okay, well he can't do that, right?" moments before he does whatever you were thinking he couldn't.

Banchero is the fourth player in team history to break the 50-point mark, and the first in over 20 years. Here are some of the other dominant performances we've ever seen from Magic players.

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Tracy McGrady: 62 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 20/37 FG, 5/14 3PT, 64.0 TS% (March 10, 2004)

If this article does nothing else, hopefully it reminds you just how hilariously talented of a scorer Tracy McGrady was. This is the last time a Magic player scored at least 50, and it was done in 2004 when the average scoring output for an NBA team was 93.4 points per game. That's more than two-thirds of a normal team game!

Banchero's game in 2024, with a much more spread out NBA, isn't quite at this level of bucket-getting, but if you exist in the "almost as impressive as Tracy McGrady" category... you're still doing something right.

McGrady led the league in scoring this year at 28.0 points per game and made second-team All-NBA. So, again, pretty good company. Also, McGrady had three more 50-plus point games with Orlando, but this was the most impressive and we didn't want to get repetitive. He was unstoppable, is basically the lesson here.

Shaquille O'Neal: 53 points, 18 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 22/31 FG (April 20, 1994)

It's a little surprising that Shaq only scored 50 once on the Magic when you consider how dominant he was in his tenure with the Magic.

Poor Mike Brown and Christian Laettner tried their best in this game but sometimes Shaq just does Shaq things and you're forced to tip your cap and move on to the next game, hoping that no one remembers. We are talking about it 30 years later though, so... sorry to Mike and Christian.

If you're a young NBA fan who just remembers Shaq at the tail-end of his career, you probably don't remember how freakishly athletic and nimble Shaq was in the early stages of his career.

Nick Anderson: 50 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 17/25 FG (April 23, 1993)

This game from Nick Anderson stands out because dropped 50 off the bench. Why he was coming off the bench is a mystery (he started 76 games that year) but nevertheless, Anderson came in as a reserve and lit up the Timberwolves.

Shaq had a terrible game (3/11 FG, 10 points) so Anderson's takeover was necessary to help the Magic win. Teamwork!

How good can Paolo Banchero become?

The answer to this question changes seemingly every week after Banchero does something incredible. Last season, in year two, he led the Magic to the playoffs. In year three, he's already played one of the greatest games in the history of his franchise and has shown that he can completely take over a game offensively when necessary.

It seems silly to guess how good Banchero could be right now... so we're just going to enjoy watching him rise. But a perennial All-Star and multiple All-NBA seasons both seem like the low end of the spectrum for Paolo right now.