Vs. Houston Rockets – Dec. 15, 2006
In the dark times for the Lakers when the team was surviving on Kobe and prayers between Shaq and Pau being on the roster, Bryant undoubtedly put up some of his more unreal games in terms of production. That includes an absolutely monstrous double overtime performance against the Houston Rockets towards the beginning of the 2006-07 season as Kobe was carrying his team to relevance by himself.
In 54 minutes on the floor (which is just absurd in it’s own right) on Dec. 15, 2006 against Houston, Kobe was just all over the place on both ends of the floor. He ended the night with 53 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, two steals, and one block. What’s more incredible is that this was one of those games where the Lakers aren’t even competitive if Kobe doesn’t have one of those transcendent performances that he’s capable of. That’s what happens when Smush Parker is the second-leading scorer for your team in an actual, real, live NBA game.
Kobe certainly looks back at these times and marvels at what he did and what he had to do because of the team that was put around him. This is undoubtedly a singular instance of that where anyone who watched was just in awe of what he had to and was able to do.
Next: Vs. Pacers