On This Day (March 16)

Notable events from NBA history that occurred on March 16.

Kobe Scores 65

On this day in 2007, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant scored 65 points in a 116-111 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, the most points ever scored by an opposing player versus the Trail Blazers. Bryant shot 23-39 from the field — including 8-12 from 3-point range — and made 11 of his 12 free throws.

It’s the second-highest scoring game of Bryant’s career, surpassed only by his legendary 81-point effort versus the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 22, 2006. Bryant and Wilt Chamberlain (15 times) are the only players in NBA history to record multiple 65-point games.

This was the first of four straight games in which Bryant scored at least 50 points. The only other player in NBA history to record at least four 50-point games in a row is Chamberlain (five such streaks). Bryant scored 225 points during the streak, a four-game total that has only been surpassed by Chamberlain (multiple times, with a high of 293 points).

Bryant scored at least 50 points 10 times that season. The only other player in NBA history to produce 10 or more 50-point games in a season is Chamberlain (of course), who recorded 45 such games in 1961-62 and 30 in 1962-63.