Dec. 7, 2010
32 years, 106 days
In a duel between future teammates, Nick Young gave Kobe Bryant all he could handle, but the Black Mamba nonetheless topped Swaggy P.
Bryant led the Lakers to a 115-108 win over Young’s Wizards by racking up 32 points on a 12-of-23 clip.
But Young gave his best effort, erupting for 30 points off the bench by going 10-of-18 with a then-career-high six 3-pointers.
“We know when Nick Young comes to town, we’re going to give up 25 points,” Lakers head coach Phil Jackson told reporters. “This kid is going to come back to L.A. and have a great game.”
In addition to Young’s effort, Washington challenged the Lakers thanks to Gilbert Arenas (23 points) and John Wall (22 points, 14 assists). But Bryant was backed by Pau Gasol, who had all of his assists in the first half to flirt with a triple-double (21 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists, five blocks).
The Lakers opened up a 36-23 lead after one quarter, but Washington stormed back on a 16-1 run to end the third quarter and cut L.A.’s lead to 87-84. But the Lakers never surrendered their lead, beginning the final period on a 10-3 run of their own.
Washington shot 50.0 percent from the field, but L.A. simply had more chances thanks to a 22-9 advantage in offensive rebounds. The Lakers also thrived down low, outscoring the Wizards in the paint, 58-30.
Kobe performances on this day in history: