Was he going to do the triple? That was the question before this meeting between the Lakers and the Grizzlies. Kobe Bryant had just played two games in a row with more than 50 points: 65 against Portland then 50 against Minnesota.
A third row at this altitude and he would go down in history. Kobe Bryant has never missed this kind of appointment. The Grizzlies of Pau Gasol, who will join Los Angeles eleven months later, can do nothing: the Californian rear ends with 60 points at 20/37 in shooting, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
“I just feel like guys can find me”, he commentsto explain this crazy rise in temperature. “It’s not like I take complicated shots from afar, there are a few yes, but I’m in rhythm when I take them. For that, I have good screens, good passes and that’s essential because I face two-man and three-man takes. »
Memphis tried everything by sending several defenders on his back, but at this moment Kobe Bryant is in another dimension. He varies the angles, the positions, the feints. Talent and hard work do the rest. After the match, he entered the very closed club of players who had accumulated three matches in a row to at least 50 points, with Elgin Baylor, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain (who had done so ten times…).
” It’s awesome “he continues. “I grew up idolizing these players. It’s a huge honor to be in the same category as them in the history books. »
