One night after Kobe Bryant dropped 48 points on Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers midway through the 2005-06 season, the Los Angeles Lakers took on their Staples Center co-tenants, the Los Angeles Clippers.
Early on, it looked as if it wasn’t Bryant’s night. He went just 2-of-12 in the first half. Afterward, he went to DEFCON 1.
He went 7-of-11 in the third quarter for 18 points as the Lakers started to fight back from a double-digit deficit. Then, in the fourth quarter, he added 22 more points, including the go-ahead basket with 11.4 seconds remaining.
Bryant’s exploits gave him 50 points on the night, to go along with eight assists and eight rebounds, as the Lakers earned a 112-109 victory.
That year, the Clippers were slightly better than the Lakers. They won 47 games, two more than the Lakers, while going further in the playoffs. But that night was an example of how an all-time great can elevate his squad above the mere sum of its parts.
