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Kobe went off last night. There's simply no other way to say it. To drop 62 points in only three quarters is truly an amazing feat and has appropriately set the NBA world abuzz.
The LA Times Lakers Blog jokingly points out that Kobe didn't quite do it all last night, the Daily News quotes disgruntled and ejected Mavs coach Avery Johnson as saying "It was like he was in a gym all by himself working on all his moves," and ESPN's Marc Stein applauds Kobe for "shooting and shooting and shooting."
People have joked for quite some time that Kobe is a one man team, and while there is definitely some truth to that statement, he was a one-man team with a losing record. That's because even at his best, Kobe has never single-handedly outscored the five guys on the opposite team. Until last night. Because when Kobe called it a night after three quarters on Tuesday, it was a score of Kobe 62, Allas (no D) 61.
There was so much to marvel at in last night's performance that it's hard to figure out what is the most impressive -- having a 30 point quarter, scoring 62 in just three quarters, outscoring an entire team for three quarters, or Kobe being cool with calling it a night early even though he could have easily gone on to break the all-time Laker scoring record of 71 or even approached - gasp! - 80.
The aftermath of last night's incredible performance leaves LAist with just one obvious question -- how many shots is Kobe going to jack up now in his next game?
