Baylor...Chamberlain...West...Kobe!

By Darren Misener

It was more like Kobe Wan Kenobi out there on Tuesday night.

Kobe Bryant showed jedi-like ability as he flat out lit up the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday, in a performance that few have ever seen the likes of. Bryant dropped 62 points -- in just three quarters. To put that stat into perspective: Heading into the fourth quarter, Kobe had outscored the Mavericks 62-61. No player in NBA history has ever outscored the opposing team over the course of an entire game.

The Mavericks took the brunt of Kobe's brilliance for the second time this month. On Dec. 12, Bryant dropped 43 on Dallas -- that's 105 points against the same team in a two-game span. To put that stat into perspective: The last NBA player to score 105-plus points against one team over two games was David Robinson, who put up 112 against the Clippers in March-April 1994.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson knows quite a bit about high-scoring games. After Tuesday's game Jackson said: "I've seen a few 60-point ballgames in my time, but none of them had been done by the third quarter... his 30-point third quarter was incredible."

Perspective: Jackson coached Michael Jordan in Chicago for many years.

Kobe's 62 points was the most that any player has scored in the league in over 11 years. Kobe tallied 32 points in the first half, but his real brilliance was in the third quarter where he poured in 30 on 7-of-13 from the field and 14-of-16 from the charity stripe. To put that stat into perspective: The 30-point outburst in one quarter was the 4th highest in league history.

All the above is surely an incredible feat. But now see how this group of names sounds: Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Kobe Bryant. With 62 points, KB has now put himself 6th on the All-Time Lakers Single Game Scoring List:

With his name on that list, Bryant is definitely a master.