Feb. 9, 2012
33 years, 170 days
The epitome of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol’s connection was on display, as the Lakers ground out an 88-87 overtime victory over the rival Celtics in Boston.
Bryant racked up 27 points, while Gasol went off for 25 points, 14 rebounds and a handful of clutch plays.
Bryant — who shot 11-of-24 — scored a dozen third-quarter points to put the visitors up, 67-64, heading into the final period.
The teams traded leads late, as TD Garden began chanting “Beat L.A.!” after Ray Allen knocked down a 3-pointer to put Boston up by two with a minute left.
However, Gasol tipped in a missed Bryant layup with 9.8 seconds remaining to force overtime.
Bryant hit the extra frame’s first shot and Steve Blake followed to push Los Angeles’ lead to four.
A triple from Paul Pierce gave the Celtics the lead once more, but Andrew Bynum — who had 16 points and 17 rebounds — mirrored Gasol by tipping in Bryant’s miss for an 88-87 edge.
From there, both squads held the other scoreless, as Pierce’s last-second shot rimmed out. Boston had one more chance at the buzzer, as Allen attempted to tip it back in, but Gasol was there to swat it away.
The Lakers went just 1-of-15 on 3-pointers, but Bryant shot 11-of-24 to lead L.A. to snapping its rivals’ five game winning streak.
Kobe performances on this day in history: