While the Black Mamba's efficiency has plummeted during his season-long swan song, he recaptured vintage form against the league's 22nd-ranked defense and dropped a season-high 38 points on 10-of-21 shooting (7-of-11 from three), five rebounds, five assists and two steals to help the Lakers snap a 10-game losing streak.
With a confident disposition, Bryant repeatedly fired over Timberwolves defenders and even drilled a pull-up jumper over Andrew Wiggins with 26 seconds remaining to send Minnesota packing:
Although Bryant largely struggled inside the arc Tuesday, he torched Minnesota from long-range on the left side of the floor, as NBA.com/Stats explained on Twitter:
According to Sports Illustrated's Ben Golliver, the last time Bryant made at least seven threes in a game was March 2008, so it's no wonder ESPN's Kevin Pelton had the following reaction as time was winding down:
On a night Bryant was serenaded with "M-V-P!" chants from the Purple and Gold faithful, Golden State Warriors forward and Western Conference All-Star Draymond Green took great pleasure in the throwback display:
Golliver provided some more staggering context as Bryant piled up 14 of the Lakers' final 18 points during a fourth quarter that saw the Timberwolves attempt to mount a furious comeback:
The relative scoring explosion was also quite ironic considering it came against Sam Mitchell, who was also the head coach of the Toronto Raptors at the time of Kobe's legendary 81-point outing, as GQ's Myles Brown noted:
While the Timberwolves dropped their fifth straight and fell to 2-8 over the last 10 ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
