Dec. 31, 2006
28 years, 130 days
Kobe Bryant rung in the New Year by doing it all for the Lakers, leading his team in scoring, rebounds and assists in a 104-94 win over Philadelphia.
While no other Laker scored more than a dozen points, Bryant racked up 35 by shooting 15-of-22. He also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out six assists in the 2006 finale.
The Lakers trailed by one late in the first half, but Bryant engineered an 11-2 run just before intermission, and the Lakers never fell behind again.
“That’s when great players come into effect: when their team needs them,” Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala told reporters. “He made some tough shots and got it going.”</p.
Bryant was even more brilliant in the third, pouring in 20 points while missing just one of his nine shots.
The Lakers exited the quarter with a 15-point lead.
With Chris Webber (bruised foot) out, Kyle Korver stepped up for the 76ers by scoring 29 off the bench with a 10-of-18 clip that included five 3-pointers. But not much else was going offensively for Philadelphia, which shot just 39.5 percent.
Kobe performances on this day in history: