The late NBA legend Kobe Bryant had his share of memorable outings in the NBA and he saved some of his best performances for the Nuggets.
Bryant averaged 24.8 points, 5.4 assists and 5.3 rebounds against the Nuggets in 66 regular season appearances against the franchise. Arguably his best regular season game against Denver was on Feb. 12, 2003. Kobe, in his prime, taking on a Nuggets team that was in the midst of a rebuild and the Lakers guard was at his lethal best. He would score 51 points in just three quarters and dominate in the first half, going for 36 points in the opening 24 minutes of the game. Bryant’s Lakers would secure a 113-102 win over the Nuggets at Pepsi Center.
It also extended what would be a historic streak from Bryant as it was the third of nine-straight games with 40 points or more. That tied him with Michael Jordan for the third-longest 40-point streak in NBA history. Wilt Chamberlain owns the three longest streaks of scoring 40 or more per game, with 14-straight twice (Dec. 8-Dec. 30, 1961 and Jan. 11-Feb. 1, 1962) and another streak of 10-straight from Nov. 9-Nov.25, 1962.
Here’s a look back to that February contest: