April 23rd, 2008 vs Nuggets
The Lakers finished the 2007-08 season with a record of 57-25, which was good enough for the first seed in the Western Conference. This set up a first round match-up versus the Denver Nuggets. Many thought it would be an interesting series with the likes of Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson, and JR Smith. Denver finished the year with a 50-32 mark.
After Los Angeles took the first game of the series 128-114, Bryant was ready to follow up his poor shooting performance. Bryant shot 9-of-26 in Game 1 and made sure he didn’t struggle in Game 2.
Not only was he efficient in Game 2, but he started the game on fire, and closed Denver out coming down the stretch. Kobe scored 20 points in the first quarter, and 19 points over the remaining 7 minutes of the game.
In all, Kobe finished the night with 49 points, 10 assists, and four rebounds, while shooting 18-of-27 from the floor. His 66.7 percent shooting on the night was his second best shooting display in his playoff career. Not only did he score, but got the offense going with double-digit assists. This incredible display of play-making sent the Lakers on to victory in Game 2, 122-107. Then went on to sweep the Nuggets out of the first round.
Not only did he score, but got the offense going with double-digit assists. This incredible display of play-making sent the Lakers on to victory in Game 2, 122-107. They would go on to sweep the Nuggets out of the first round.