For the first 28 minutes of the Lakers’ win over the Detroit Pistons Tuesday, Kobe Bryant did not make a dent on the scoreboard. Bryant began the contest by missing each of his first four shots — but then everything flipped.
Beginning with 7:25 remaining in the third quarter, the 16-time all-star unleashed a 126-second barrage that netted him 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting.
Bryant began with a 19-foot fadeaway, then added three free throws, including a technical, about a minute later.
From there, the Lakers stole the ball on back-to-back possessions, and Bryant finished on the other end with a reverse layup and a 27-foot 3-pointer from the right wing.
Following a subsequent Detroit basket, Bryant pulled up and drained from 17 feet out to cap off his 12-point individual run that began with a nine-point Lakers lead and ended with L.A. ahead by 16.
During this stretch, Bryant connected on all of his shots: three free throws, three 2-pointers and one 3-pointer. Meanwhile, no other Laker attempted a shot, and the Pistons went 1-for-3 from the field and 1-for-2 at the foul line.
“In the first half … I missed a couple of easy ones,” Bryant said. “In the second quarter, I got back in there with five minutes to go, something like that. So the rhythm of the game wasn’t really there. So I just paced it out a little bit and then came out in the second half and let the game come to me. Made a couple shots, then I was able to step on the gas a little bit.”
The 19-year veteran did not score again for the remainder of the contest, missing his final three shots. However, Bryant finished with his second-straight double-double via 13 assists, though he also had 10 turnovers.
“They were trapping him. Every time they seemed to get him in that mid-post to low-post area,” said head coach Byron Scott. “If he turned to face them, he was just kind of waiting there to see what they were going to do. They were coming at him kind of aggressive.
“He just had pretty good space and made some good decisions as far as making shots and swinging it to the open guys. He was more of a facilitator tonight, but in the third quarter, he got it going.”