NBA: Kobe Bryant’s best games against every team

27. Kobe v. Pistons, November 17, 2009

40 points (17-29 FG), 5 rebounds, 5 assists

Sixteen days later, the Lakers hosted Detroit at the Staples Center. Unlike most teams, Kobe’s career against Detroit has been marked with bad memories, namely the embarrassing 2004 NBA Finals when the Pistons thoroughly outplayed and out-rebounded a Lakers team that included Kobe, Shaq, Karl Malone and Gary Payton.

The 2009-10 season brings much fonder memories for Kobe, including this game where the Lakers’ starters outscored the Pistons’ starters 76-41. And notably, this was the 100th time Kobe Bryant scored at least 40 points in a game.

There have been only two other players who have hit the 40-point mark over 100 times: Wilt Chamberlain had done so an absurd 271 times, quite impressive but undoubtedly a product of a time when Wilt’s physical advantages and the pace of the game inflated his statistics; Michael Jordan racked up 173 games of at least 40 points, providing the model for Kobe’s career as a shooting guard.

Amazingly enough, Kobe Bryant has scored at least 40 on every other franchise in the NBA. This takes into account a time before the New Orleans Hornets became the Pelicans, the Charlotte Bobcats became the new Hornets and the Seattle SuperSonics became the Oklahoma City Thunder, but that statistic is still so very impressive.

Next: #26