Los Angeles Lakers: 30 greatest individual performances in team history

Los Angeles Lakers: 30 greatest individual performances in team history: 24. Jerry West embarrasses the Knicks

It’s no knock on NBA players of today but scoring 40 points without a 3-point line would be nearly impossible, let alone 63. Yet, that’s exactly what Jerry West did in 1962.

The New York Knicks stood no chance against West on a normal night but when he was feeling it, West often embarrassed teams. The 14-time All-Star and NBA silhouette scored nearly half his team’s points as he led the Los Angeles Lakers to a 129-121 win. Unfortunately for Knicks fans, getting torched by players for record breaking games became the norm.

Wilt Chamberlain famously scored an NBA record 100 points on them, Michael Jordan, still rusty from his baseball retirement, dropped a double nickel on them and there are a few notable Lakers outside of West who also had a night to remember on those Knicks but we’ll touch more on that later. His 63 point game becomes even less surprising when you realize that West has the seventh highest point per game average against the Knicks in NBA history with 28.3.

With no help of a 3-point line and playing during a much more physical time, West carved up defenders all season long. He averaged 30.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists.