Raptors of Toronto On this day fifteen years ago, Kobe Bryant scored an NBA-record 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, propelling the Los Angeles Lakers to a 122-104 victory. It was also the highest scoring game ever until Michael Jordan broke it with 91 points in 1995. Before Sunday's game against the New York Knicks, Kobe had announced that he would be ending his season after fracturing his kneecap during the fourth quarter of Saturday's win over the Brooklyn Nets. The injury will likely keep him out for the remainder of the postseason as the Lakers try to win their third title in four seasons.
In what has become an annual event, Kobe took over first place on the all-time playoff scoring list when he hit a three-pointer at the 9:39 mark of the second quarter. The record lasted only three minutes though, as James Harden ended Kobe's drought by hitting a triple of his own. But even with his record falling, Kobe still led the entire game in points scored (81) and attempted (51). He also had nine rebounds, six assists and two steals.
Kobe's teammate Shaquille O'Neal gave him a standing ovation after the game. "That's why we love the guy," said O'Neal. "He doesn't care about anything but winning."
That was until Kobe Bryant destroyed the Toronto Raptors in one of the greatest single-game performances in NBA history on January 22, 2006. Bryant ended with 81 points on 28-of-46 shooting, including 7-of-13 from 3-point range and 18-of-20 at the foul line, as the Lakers rallied for a 122-104 victory at home.
Bryant's previous highest scoring game was also against the Raptors, when he scored 51 points back in 2004. He is the third player in NBA history to score 80 or more points in a game (Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan are the other two players who have done this).
Bryant has also played games where he has finished with 79, 78 and 77 points respectively.
He currently holds several records after breaking Wilt Chamberlain's record of most points in a game.
Kobe has also played many great games where he has been held back by his teammates as they could not help him out on offense when he got into trouble. In fact, there were several occasions where he had to come off the court because of injury.
However, it must be noted that some of these occurrences were before the launch of "Hack-a-Shaq", which enabled opposing teams to force Shaquille O'Neal to take the last shot.
Kobe Bryant went 92 games without scoring more than ten points. The last time he failed to score at least that many was on April 12, 2013.
He had nine points against the New York Knicks that night. His previous low was seven points against the Toronto Raptors on November 11, 2012.
In addition to his twelve seasons, he also had one season where he scored ten or more points only once. That was with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004-05 when he finished with 26 goals.
His average of 9.4 points per game is the lowest among active players. Only Jason Kidd (9.5), Ray Allen (9.6), and Jamal Crawford (9.7) average less than him.
Bryant's career average is 25.1 points per game. He has never scored less than 14 points in a game during his NBA career.
However, he has four games where he has scored between zero and two points: two empty nets vs. San Antonio Spurs (twice) and Miami Heat and Boston Celtics.
He also has two disqualification losses due to excessive fouling.
Bryant nailed a 26-foot three-pointer with less than a minute remaining to cut the Lakers' advantage to one point. It was his final three-point attempt of his career. Less than 30 seconds later, he sank a classic 20-foot two-pointer, giving the Lakers a 97-96 edge. The shot came just moments after Bryant made a free throw to give Los Angeles a 95-96 lead with 11 seconds left.
The Lakers failed to score for nearly four minutes as they looked for an answer under the basket. When Gasol finally got the ball, he found himself surrounded by three defenders. He passed the ball back out to Bynum, who missed a running jumper. After another Laker miss, Fisher grabbed the rebound and hit a short jump shot to put the Lakers up 99-96 with 1:50 left in the game.
Lamar Odom had 28 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, while Andrew Bynum had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Metta World Peace scored 12 points for Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant finished with six points on 2-of-12 shooting from the field and no three-pointers.
This was Kobe's last game at Staples Center and his final NBA game overall. The Lakers lost the game 96-94 to the Clippers when Lamar Odom missed a free throw with 10 seconds left. After the game, Kobe announced that this would be his final season in the NBA.
Kobe Bryant's lowest point total in a game was 0 points 15 times. That happened four times this season and twice last season.
He scored zero points in three games this year: one quarter against the Clippers, one fourth of the fourth quarter against the Wizards, and the entire first half of another game against the Wizards. He also went 0 for 3 from the field in an early season matchup with the Jazz.
Last year, Kobe had zero points in four games: second quarter of a closeout game at Toronto, third quarter of a loss to the Mavericks, whole first half of a blowout win over the Pelicans, and the final minute of regulation against the Wizards.
The only other time he had 0 points was in the NBA All-Star Game back in 2001 when he was a rookie. He came off the bench that night and scored two free throws in his only play.
Kobe has never had zero points in a game after the first quarter.
69 out of 100 Michael Jordan scored 69 points in the Chicago Bulls' overtime victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. This is the highest single-game scoring mark ever recorded by Jordan, surpassing his previous high of 68 set earlier that season.
This marks the first time in NBA history that a player has scored 100 points in a game twice. The last player to do so was Michael Jordan himself in the 1995-96 season. He also holds the record for most points scored in a game without making a free throw - 95. Dwight Howard currently holds this record share with Jordan.
Here are other facts about this amazing feat:
1. Jordan's teammate Scottie Pippen helped on defense, but still got a double-double himself with 10 rebounds.
2. The Cavaliers had a chance to win in regulation time, but Mike Dunleavy missed a shot at the buzzer for Cleveland. Otherwise, he would have been named the winner since he had more points than Jordan.
3. After the game, Jordan said: "I want to thank my teammates for giving me open shots and letting me shoot the ball whenever I wanted."
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