Kobe Bryant Clobbers Jazz With 52 Points

December 2nd, 2006

Los Angeles, CA - Kobe Bryant scored 52 points, making all nine of his shots in the third quarter Thursday night in the Los Angeles Lakers' 132-102 victory over the Utah Jazz.

Kobe Bryant scored 52 points, making all nine of his shots in the third quarter Thursday night in the Los Angeles Lakers' 132-102 victory over the Utah Jazz.

Bryant was hitting from all over the court and the Jazz began fouling him almost every time he was even threatening to shoot.

He was 10 for 10 from the free-throw line in the third.

The 30-point quarter tied Bryant's own Lakers record set last season when he finished with 81 points against Toronto. George Gervin had 33 in a quarter for San Antonio in 1978.

Bryant, who topped the 50-point plateau for the 12th time in his career, finally missed when he drove and looped a shot that bounced off the back of the rim with 7:44 left in the game, shortly after he had returned to the floor with the Lakers up by 20.

"I've seen a lot of great games from Kobe, but that was a terrific performance," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "It was a combination of things he did tonight ... maybe not as dramatic as in the past, but there's still plenty of fire in there."

Bryant finished 19 of 26 from the floor and 12 of 15 from the line in his highest scoring game since he had 81 against the Raptors on Jan. 22 last season. He led the NBA in scoring with a 35.4 average last season, but - coming off knee surgery last summer - was averaging 24.1 points this season going in against Utah.