Los Angeles Lakers: Kobe Bryant’s five best performances

2. 61-point game against Knicks (February 2, 2009) and 62-point game against Mavericks (December 20, 2005)

Okay, this is kind of cheating, I know. This is a list of the five best performances by Kobe, so it makes no sense to combine two games in one ranking. However, both games were similarly fantastic, and with other great games to be included as well, combining the two games were necessary.

First, we will start with the more recent performance. I remember Kobe dropping 61 points on the Knicks like it was yesterday. Laying in my bed, at 10 years old keep in mind, that episode of SportsCenter was revolving completely around Kobe and his performance. It was a huge outburst that set the Madison Square Garden record for crying out loud.

The 30-year-old Bryant shot an insane 61.3% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. What makes this performance so incredible is that Bryant only shot the three ball six times. Kobe went 20-20 at the charity stripe that night, reminding us all that his free throw shot is lights out.

What makes Kobe’s 62 point game against the Mavericks so incredible is that he did it in just three-quarters. In what would be his prelude to the number one game on this list, Bryant outscored the Dallas Mavericks 62-61 after three-quarters of play. If Bryant would have played all four, with the same averages, he would have dropped 83 points.

The Lakers won both of these games by a combined score of 238-207, with Bryant scoring 123 of those points. Whether it was getting hot in three-quarters or thriving at the charity stripe, both games reminded us how gifted Kobe really was.