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Basketball
Topic Started: Jan 23 2006, 10:12 AM (158 Views)
Spud
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Spud
Kobe scores 81, second only to Wilt in history
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Kobe Bryant kept shooting, from all over the court and from every angle.
The Los Angeles Lakers' star scored a staggering 81 points Sunday night against the Toronto Raptors in a 122-104 win. Only Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game stands ahead of him.
"It just happened, man" Bryant said. "It really hasn't, like, set in for me. It's about the 'W,' that's why I turned it on. It turned into something special.
"To sit here and say I grasp what happened, that would be lying. Not even in my dreams."

The NBA's leading scorer left to a standing ovation with 4.2 seconds remaining, having shot 28-of-46 from the floor, including 7-of-13 from 3-point range and 18-of-20 from the foul line.

With the fans at Staples Center chanting "MVP! MVP!" Bryant made two free throws with 43.4 seconds remaining for his final points. He scored 27 points in the third quarter, 28 in the fourth.

"It feels great to put on a great show here," he said.

Chamberlain scored 100 points for Philadelphia against the New York Knicks at Hershey, Pa., on March 2, 1962, making 36-of-63 from the field and 28-of-32 from the foul line while playing all 48 minutes.

Chamberlain had 59 points in the second half - the only player with more points in a half than Bryant's 55 after halftime in this game.

Chamberlain's second-highest total was 78 against the Lakers in three overtimes on Dec. 8, 1961.

Elgin Baylor held the previous franchise record of 71 points at New York on Nov. 15, 1960. Lakers assistant Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's all-time leading scorer, saw that game, too.

"Elgin's game was an incredible performance, also. I don't think there's any comparison. Elgin did it without 3-point lines. His game was attacking the hoop and hitting jumpers inside 20 feet. Kobe's range is unreal, and he does it his way," Abdul-Jabbar said.

"It was a real treat. His ability to shoot from long range and also attack the hoop, split the defense and get in close for opportunities near the basket is unique. He's made a niche for himself and he deserves it."

Michael Jordan's career high was 69 points, and only four players had ever scored more than 70 - Chamberlain, Baylor, David Thompson and David Robinson.

The 27-year-old Bryant made it five. His previous career high was 62 points during a 112-90 victory over Dallas last month - he sat out the fourth quarter because of the one-sided nature of the game.

"I was just determined. I was just locked in, tuned into what was going on out there," Bryant said. "These points tonight mattered. We needed them. The points I put in the basket were instrumental. It means a lot more."

Bryant raised his scoring average to an NBA-leading 35.9 points this season.

"I never imagined I would see history like that," said Devean George, a teammate of Bryant's with the Lakers for 6 1/2 seasons. "I can't tell you where that came from. He just kept attacking, attacking, attacking - every time he got the ball."

Bryant played nearly 42 minutes, going the entire second half until being lifted by coach Phil Jackson.

Jackson coached Jordan and the Chicago Bulls to six championships in the 1990s and the Lakers, with Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, to three more titles, from 2000-02.

"That was something to behold," Jackson said. "It was another level. I've seen some remarkable games, but I've never seen one like that before."

Bryant's performance came on the same night the NBA had its highest-scoring game in 11 years when Seattle beat Phoenix 152-149 in two overtimes. The last 300-point game in the league came when Dallas beat Houston 156-147 in two overtimes on April 11, 1995, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

"You're sitting and watching, and it's like a miracle unfolding in front of your eyes and you can't accept it," Lakers owner Jerry Buss said. "Somehow, the brain won't work. The easiest way to look at it is everybody remembers every 50-point game they ever saw. He had 55 in the second half."

Lamar Odom's 3-pointer with 7:04 remaining gave the Lakers a 100-93 lead, and Bryant scored 30 seconds later to give him 61 points and his team a nine-point advantage. The Raptors didn't pose a serious threat after that.

Bryant scored all but 15 of the Lakers' 42 points in the third quarter, shooting 11-of-15 including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Six of his points came during a 12-0 run to finish the period, giving Los Angeles a 91-85 lead.

The Lakers outscored the Raptors 38-14 to finish the third quarter to go ahead for good. They trailed by as many as 18 points early in the period, angering Bryant.

"He was ticked off," Odom said.

When asked what Bryant said at that stage, Odom replied: "Nothing. That's when it's bad."

Bryant scored 51 points after the Raptors took a 71-53 lead. It was 63-49 at halftime.

"The thing about him that is most amazing is that he is relentless," Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said. "We played man-to-man, box-in-one and zone. We tried to put smaller guys on him to deny him the ball.

"I saw that game he had against Dallas where he scored 62, what more can you say?"

Smush Parker added 13 points and Chris Mihm had 12 points and six rebounds for the Lakers.

Mike James led Toronto with 26 points and 10 assists. Chris Bosh added 18 points and eight rebounds and Jalen Rose scored 17 points for the Raptors.
“Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.”
Frederic Bastiat
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JoshFormerRoomie
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Kobe can kiss my ass. He is the worst type of athlete as it relates to "team" sports. He doesn't make Smush Parker or that Walton boy better, so stop with the MJ comparisons. He is a smug, arrogant dink. I give Allen Iverson more props for what he does on a nightly basis as opposed to this clod. Kobe play for Kobe, nothing more, nothing less.
"Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable."

-John Kenneth Galbraith
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Wallace
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Hey the sun shines on a dogs ass now and then.

Lebron is way better than Kobe anyday.

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Spud
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Let's stack up this lucky s.o.b. against the greatest player of all time, shall we?!

Kobe's 81 point night was during his 666th game. Let's take a peek at the numbers for MJ and Kobe through 666 games:

Age: Kobe-27; MJ-30

Seasons: Kobe-10; MJ-9

Points: Kobe- 15, 436; MJ- 21,520

PPG: Kobe- 23.1; MJ- 32.3

Rebounds: Kobe- 3,426; MJ- 4,213

Assists (this is a big one to me): Kobe- 2,955; MJ- 3,929

Steals: Kobe- 964; MJ- 1,812

FG PCT: Kobe- 45.2; MJ- 51.6

High Game: Kobe- 81; MJ- 69

50+ PTS: Kobe- 9; MJ- 26*

60+ PTS: Kobe- 2; MJ- 4

Titles: Kobe- 3; MJ- 6

*That does not include five 50+ games MJ had in the playoffs (Kobe has zero)

Anyone that still has something to say about Kobe in relationship to the greatest basketball player of all time can simply digest these facts.
“Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.”
Frederic Bastiat
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JoshFormerRoomie
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I still invite Kobe to fellate me at his leisure.
"Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable."

-John Kenneth Galbraith
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