Los Angeles Lakers: On this day in team history, March 22

The Los Angeles Lakers have had some dominant performances on March 22nd in their franchise history.

We have seen some truly dominant performances by the Los Angeles Lakers this season, both as a team and individually. LeBron James has 13 triple-doubles this season. Anthony Davis dropped 50 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves earlier this season.

Unfortunately, it could be a while until we see any more dominating performances from anyone on the Lakers this season. With the NBA suspending operations, it could be months until we see teams take the court again.

With no games being played now, we can take a look at some performances in the past. On this day in history, March 22nd, the Lakers have had players put together some truly dominant performances.

Just last season, we saw one. In 2019, against the Brooklyn Nets, coincidentally the last team the Lakers played this season before the suspension, JaVale McGee had arguably the best game of his career.

McGee was a force to be reckoned with on that night. He set multiple career-highs in the game against Brooklyn. He scored 33 points on 15-of-20 from the field, all of which were a career-high. He also pulled down 20 rebounds, 12 of which were of the offensive variety. Both of those were career-highs as well.

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Unfortunately for the Lakers, McGee’s performance didn’t come in a victory. The team lost 111-106. Another one of McGee’s great performances we highlighted recently, also came in a loss for his team.

The other dominant performance that occurred on March 22 was better for the Lakers, as they won the game this time. In 2007, the Lakers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 121-119 as they were willed to victory by Kobe Bryant.

Bryant was in the midst of one of his famous scoring binges on this night against the Grizzlies. Bryant poured in 60 points, going 20-of-37, 3-of-7 from the 3-point line and 17-of-18 from the foul line. He added five rebounds and four assists with only two turnovers in more than 45 minutes played.

The only other Lakers to score in double-figures were Lamar Odom, who scored 20, and Luke Walton, who had 11. For the Grizzlies, Pau Gasol and Mike Miller led the way with 35 and 33 points, respectively.

This was the second time in three games that Bryant broke the 60 point plateau. He scored 65 points against the Portland Trail Blazers just six days prior. He would score 50+ points in four straight games, as he was willing the Lakers, pretty much by himself, toward the postseason.

Bryant played in 77 games that season and scored at least 30 points in 38 of them. He broke the 20 point mark in all but 11 games all season.