Nov. 21, 2006
28 years, 90 days
From the very beginning, it was clear that this was one of those nights when Kobe Bryant could get what he wanted.
He hit his first three shots and poured half of his 40 points in the first quarter alone to push the Lakers to a 105-101 victory over the Clippers.
Bryant shot 12-of-23 from the field, while also pitching in five assists and three steals. But other than a double-double from Kwame Brown (10 points, 14 rebounds), he didn’t get much help from teammates, as the Lakers shot just 37.1 percent — 11.1 percent worse than the Clippers.
In fact, the Lakers went scoreless for the first half of the fourth quarter, allowing the Clippers to score 11 straight and take a two-point lead.
But Bryant, who added 10 more points in the final period, helped the purple and gold respond with six unanswered points, and they never surrendered their advantage from there.
While double-doubles from Elton Brand (20 points, 15 rebounds) and Chris Kaman (12 points, 10 rebounds) kept the Clippers close, the Lakers notched their sixth consecutive victory thanks in part to a 31-16 advantage on free throws and 8-3 on 3-pointers.
Kobe performances on this day in history: