KB24
12-02-2006, 01:29 PM
Apologies to Wilt and The Iceman, but Kobe Bryant put on one of the great shooting exhibitions of all time Thursday night.
Bryant treated the home crowd to a quarter for the ages, scoring 30 points in the third in a blowout win over the Jazz.
Bryant tied the Lakers' franchise record for most points in a quarter held by ... you guessed it ... Kobe Bryant.
How special was it?
Think of the thousands and thousands of NBA regular season and playoff games. Three times (on just two different days) has a player ever scored more than 30 points in a quarter. They were previously done in much more advantageous times and situations.
But to clarify, in the history of the NBA, there have been only two other days on which players have scored more points in a quarter.
On the final day of the 1978 season, George Gervin was battling David Thompson for the scoring title.
Thompson, with the Denver Nuggets, played first and scored 73 points in his final game of the season, thinking that this would be enough to win the scoring title. In the process, he set an NBA record by scoring 32 points in a single quarter.
The record didn't last 24 hours.
Later that same day, Gervin's Spurs took the court in New Orleans to battle the Jazz. Thompson's 73 points (a feat topped then only by Wilt Chamberlain, and since only by Bryant's 81) allowed him to finish the season with a scoring average of 27.15. Gervin entered his final game with a scoring average of 26.77 points per game (81 games, 2,169 points). All the "Iceman" needed in his final game was 58 points. As great a scorer as Gervin was, he had never scored 58 points in a game. In fact, in his 791 NBA games, he scored more than 50 in just three other games. There was little chance that Gervin would break the record, right?
Gervin wanted that scoring title, and he wanted it bad. He scored a record 33 points in the second quarter, and had 53 at halftime. By the time he sat down in the third quarter he had 63 points. His Spurs got blown out 153-132.
Here's my point. Thompson and Gervin accomplished their 33 and 32 point quarters in their season finale, with many players packed, ready to go home, and literally defense-less. Gervin accomplished the feat while his team was getting blown out.
The only other player in history to record more than Kobe's 30 points in a quarter was Wilt Chamberlain, on his record setting day in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Chamberlain scored 31 of his 100 in the fourth quarter. In that quarter, Chamberlain made 12 shots, and missed nine others.
In 1962, when Chamberlain scored all those points, the average NBA team scored 119 points per night. In 1978, the average NBA team scored 109 points per game. The average this year is 97.8 points per game.
As for Bryant, he had six games scoring 50-plus points last year on his way to the scoring title and a 35.4 per game average. This year his season high was just 40 points. He made a new season high for himself midway through the third quarter. It's a shame that the game wasn't closer, so Bryant could have played more late in the game.
This is Bryant's 11th NBA season, and he's still only 28 years old. Bryant won three championship rings early in his career, and then won his first scoring title. Michael Jordan won four scoring titles before he won his first NBA title. Bryant has a chance to outscore Jordan, and even to win as many titles.
In a year where it's easy to overlook Bryant in favor of younger players like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, we're reminded not to. When Bryant gets hot — especially with the Staples Center crowd chanting, "M-V-P" and Jack sitting courtside — there are few things in sports that equal that.
The great thing in watching sports is the hope that you will see something you will never forget, something previously thought of as impossible. Kobe Bryant has provided his share of those moments.
Thursday night was just one more
Bryant treated the home crowd to a quarter for the ages, scoring 30 points in the third in a blowout win over the Jazz.
Bryant tied the Lakers' franchise record for most points in a quarter held by ... you guessed it ... Kobe Bryant.
How special was it?
Think of the thousands and thousands of NBA regular season and playoff games. Three times (on just two different days) has a player ever scored more than 30 points in a quarter. They were previously done in much more advantageous times and situations.
But to clarify, in the history of the NBA, there have been only two other days on which players have scored more points in a quarter.
On the final day of the 1978 season, George Gervin was battling David Thompson for the scoring title.
Thompson, with the Denver Nuggets, played first and scored 73 points in his final game of the season, thinking that this would be enough to win the scoring title. In the process, he set an NBA record by scoring 32 points in a single quarter.
The record didn't last 24 hours.
Later that same day, Gervin's Spurs took the court in New Orleans to battle the Jazz. Thompson's 73 points (a feat topped then only by Wilt Chamberlain, and since only by Bryant's 81) allowed him to finish the season with a scoring average of 27.15. Gervin entered his final game with a scoring average of 26.77 points per game (81 games, 2,169 points). All the "Iceman" needed in his final game was 58 points. As great a scorer as Gervin was, he had never scored 58 points in a game. In fact, in his 791 NBA games, he scored more than 50 in just three other games. There was little chance that Gervin would break the record, right?
Gervin wanted that scoring title, and he wanted it bad. He scored a record 33 points in the second quarter, and had 53 at halftime. By the time he sat down in the third quarter he had 63 points. His Spurs got blown out 153-132.
Here's my point. Thompson and Gervin accomplished their 33 and 32 point quarters in their season finale, with many players packed, ready to go home, and literally defense-less. Gervin accomplished the feat while his team was getting blown out.
The only other player in history to record more than Kobe's 30 points in a quarter was Wilt Chamberlain, on his record setting day in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Chamberlain scored 31 of his 100 in the fourth quarter. In that quarter, Chamberlain made 12 shots, and missed nine others.
In 1962, when Chamberlain scored all those points, the average NBA team scored 119 points per night. In 1978, the average NBA team scored 109 points per game. The average this year is 97.8 points per game.
As for Bryant, he had six games scoring 50-plus points last year on his way to the scoring title and a 35.4 per game average. This year his season high was just 40 points. He made a new season high for himself midway through the third quarter. It's a shame that the game wasn't closer, so Bryant could have played more late in the game.
This is Bryant's 11th NBA season, and he's still only 28 years old. Bryant won three championship rings early in his career, and then won his first scoring title. Michael Jordan won four scoring titles before he won his first NBA title. Bryant has a chance to outscore Jordan, and even to win as many titles.
In a year where it's easy to overlook Bryant in favor of younger players like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, we're reminded not to. When Bryant gets hot — especially with the Staples Center crowd chanting, "M-V-P" and Jack sitting courtside — there are few things in sports that equal that.
The great thing in watching sports is the hope that you will see something you will never forget, something previously thought of as impossible. Kobe Bryant has provided his share of those moments.
Thursday night was just one more