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On December 20, 2005, Kobe Bryant had one of the most memorable games of his NBA career. Bryant scored a then-career high 62 points on 18-31 field goal shooting while shooting 22-25 from the free throw line in just 33 minutes of action. Bryant not only scored 62 points with still 12 minutes left on the clock, but he also outscored the entire Dallas Mavericks team 62-61 after three quarters of play.
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With the way he dominated, it looked like Kobe was a man on a mission. However, given that the game was still very early in the season, many wondered if he had a motivation for that scoring outburst, or was it just a random display of how good he really was offensively.
“I was so frustrated by the loss the other night that I was going to will us to victory,” said Bryant of his performance. “I was very angry. I felt like I wanted to come out and send a message, that we’re going to dominate at home. We’re going to hit you. We’re going to bring it to you. I wanted to send that message.”
Kobe was frustrated with their last-second loss to the Rockets
Two nights earlier, the Los Angeles Lakers suffered a 74-76 loss to a Houston Rockets team that was just 9-13 and playing without an injured Yao Ming.
With seconds left in the game, Shannon Brown stole the ball from Tracy McGrady to tie the game at 74. On the ensuing play, however, T-Mac got by Devean George before avoiding both Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown to score on the game-winning layup, with his left hand at that. The Lakers had a chance to send the game to overtime, but it was Smush Parker who took the last shot and missed a long jumper from the right corner.
Prior to that contest, the Lakers had won 7 of 8 games, and they were leading the Rockets comfortably at 52-40 before the Rockets went on a 25-5 scoring run to end the third quarter. Kobe led the Lakers with 24 points in that game. Two nights later, he matched that scoring output after 16 minutes of play against Dallas. Bryant also set a then-franchise record with 30 third-quarter points.
“We had no answer for him,” said Mavericks head coach Avery Johnson. “We tried to double team him. We tried to zone him. We tried to trap him in the backcourt. Nothing worked.”
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Phil asked Kobe if he wanted to keep going in the fourth
Kobe’s 62 was the highest scoring game in 11 years, and it was just 10 shy of Elgin Baylor’s then-Lakers record of 71 points, set in 1960. And so, per Lakers guard Brian Shaw, head coach Phil Jackson told him to ask Kobe if he wanted to play in the 4th quarter to see how far his hot hand would take him. But Kobe refused.
“At the end of the third quarter, Kobe had 62 and the Dallas Mavericks had 61. And we were up, I think, 30 or 33 points, something like that. And it was a timeout. And I mean, it was in between the third and fourth quarter. And Phil Jackson asked me to go ask Kobe if he wanted to start the fourth quarter and see if he, you know, to try and get 70 points,” Shaw said.
“So I walked over out of the coach’s huddle and asked him, and he looked up at the scoreboard, and we were up, like I said, 30 or whatever. And he said, no, you know, I’ll get it another time, you know, when we really need it,” Shaw added.
Less than a month later, it happened. Kobe scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in a game where he rallied his team back from an 18-point third-quarter deficit. Bryant scored 27 points in the third and 28 in the final stanza as the Lakers won the game 122-104.
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This story was originally published August 17, 2026 at 1:51 PM.