Kobe Bryant’s top 100 games: No. 18
On Nov. 30, 2006, the unexpectedly strong Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Utah Jazz at Staples Center.
The Jazz were coming in with a gaudy 13-3 record, and they had defeated the Lakers just six days earlier in Salt Lake City, 114-108.
The first quarter was rather unremarkable, as Kobe Bryant scored 10 points to help Los Angeles hold a 29-27 lead.
But in the second period, Lakers fans could sense that something special was brewing, as he put up a dozen points on 5-of-8 shooting.
With the Lakers leading 53-41 at halftime, Bryant went into another dimension, making all nine of his shot attempts and all 10 of his free throw attempts to score 30 points in the third period.
He exited the game for good with 4:47 left in the fourth quarter and his team up 116-88, and he left with 52 points on 19-of-26 shooting.
Bryant’s 30 third-period points tied a franchise record that he had set the year prior, and he also hit 11 consecutive shots spanning the second and third quarters.
It was one of the more underrated supernovas of his career.
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