As I took my seat at Madison Square Garden last night with about 55 minutes till tip-off I was hoping for something special to happen, considering my entire mood was somber yesterday after hearing that Andrew Bynum would be missing 8-12 weeks with a torn MCL. And what occurred in the next 2 and a half hours was just absolutely spectacular.
Kobe Bryant's 61 points was the most ever scored at the Garden. Bryant broke Bernard King's record of 60 with just about 3 minutes to go in the game. The place was going absolutely crazy it almost felt it was being played at the Staples Center. As Phil Jackson, subbed out Bryant with 2 and half minutes left, about 95% of the remaining spectators gave KB24 a standing ovation, including die-hard Knicks fan Spike Lee.
It was a performance every basketball fan could appreciate. It was art. The way Kobe seemed to effortlessly knock down shot after shot was astounding. Bryant finished with 18 at the end of the 1st quarter and 34 at the end of the first half.
Kobe knocked down 19-31 from the field, going 3-6 from three, and get this, 20-20 from the line. What made it even a greater game was the Knicks were keeping it competitive until maybe 8 minutes left in the 4th quarter. And perhaps what made the game even greater was Mike Tramontozzi's quote while we were waiting for our train to get into the city: "Kobe Bryant will never sniff 50 points in his career ever again."
-Matt Soldano
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