NBA: Kobe Bryant’s best games against every team

9. Kobe v. Clippers, January 7, 2006

50 points (17-41 FG), 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 7 3-pt FGs

For most of Kobe’s tenure preceding this game, the Los Angeles Clippers were a laughingstock of the NBA.

This game happened at what could have been a dramatic moment of change in the power structure of this rivalry. The Lakers had gotten rid of Shaquille O’Neal in 2004 and were resembling a shell of their championship selves, and the Clippers, long-time doormats, were now powered by forward Elton Brand and starting to come into their own as a franchise.

It was at this moment that Kobe Bryant chose to assert himself. In the previous game – our 76ers entry – Kobe was perfect from beyond the arc with seven 3-pointers, and he followed that up with another seven on fifteen attempts.

The Lakers would need all the production they could get from Kobe, as the next highest scoring Laker was Brian Cook off the bench with 16. The narrow 112-109 victory was had with a Kobe fade-away jumper with 12 seconds left, then a Smush Parker steal-and-dunk.

Soon, the Clippers went back to their losing ways just as the Lakers late ’00s renaissance took off. That power structure wouldn’t shift until the Chris Paul-Blake Griffin Clippers would inhabit the league simultaneously with the indestructible Lakers tank we currently see.

Next: #8