A little over a month ago, Klay Thompson had a brilliant performance, when he scored 60 points in only three quarters of play. Everyone then, rightfully, talked about how that compared to other great performances. Everyone knows about Wilt's 100 and Kobe's 81. But what about other 60+ point outings? The website Land of Basketball has a great list of every 60+ point game in history. You can read over that page and notice some really cool things: Wilt accounts for nearly half of them (32 out of 66), Jordan owns the playoff record (with 63), Baylor owns the Finals record (with 61), two occurred in the same season against the same team (Carmelo and LeBron against Charlotte), and two occurred on the same day (George Gervin scored 63 and David Thompson scored 73).
But there's one that you might not have even noticed; or even if you did notice it, you might not have grasped the magnitude of it. The game I'm speaking of is Kobe scoring 62 points, in three quarters, against Dallas. Why is that game so impressive? Because Dallas was really good that year. How good? Let's examine that and compare how Dallas stacked up against the other opponents (for the purposes of this exercise, we're just going to examine the 60+ point games in the modern era, after the NBA and ABA merged). Since the merger, there have been 25 such games. Let's compare how those teams stacked up by record, defensive rating, and offensive rating.
Team Record:
Kobe vs 60-22 '05-'06 Mavs
Jordan vs 57-25 '86-'87 Hawks
Jordan vs 52-30 '86-'87 Pistons
Malone vs 44-38 '89-'90 Bucks
Carmelo vs 43-39 '13-'14 Bobcats
LeBron vs 43-39 '13-'14 Bobcats
Arenas vs 42-40 '06-'07 Lakers
Jordan vs 42-40 '89-'90 Cavs
King vs 42-40 '84-'85 Nets
K. Thompson vs 19-18 '16-'17 Pacers (current record would translate to 42-40)
Chambers vs 41-41 '89-'90 Sonics
Jordan vs 41-41 '92-'93 Magic
Maravich vs 40-42 '76-'77 Knicks
Kobe vs 40-42 '15-'16 Jazz
Gervin vs 39-43 '77-'78 Jazz
D. Thompson vs 38-44 '77-'78 Pistons
Iverson vs 36-46 '04-'05 Magic
Bird vs 34-48 '84-'85 Hawks
Kobe vs 32-50 '08-'09 Knicks
Kobe vs 32-50 '06-'07 Blazers
Kobe vs 27-55 '05-'06 Raptors
Robinson vs 27-55 '93-'94 Clippers
McGrady vs 25-57 '03-'04 Wizards
Kobe vs 22-60 '06-'07 Grizzlies
Shaq vs 15-67 '99-'00 Clippers
By Defensive Rating:
Jordan vs 2nd ranked '86-'87 Hawks
Jordan vs 5th ranked '86-'87 Pistons
Carmelo vs 5th ranked '13-'14 Bobcats
LeBron vs 5th ranked '13-'14 Bobcats
Kobe vs 7th ranked '15-'16 Jazz
Jordan vs 10th ranked '89-'90 Cavs
Gervin vs 10th ranked '77-'78 Jazz
Kobe vs 11th ranked '05-'06 Mavs
Bird vs 11th ranked '84-'85 Hawks
King vs 12th ranked '84-'85 Nets
Jordan vs 12th ranked '92-'93 Magic
Malone vs 14th ranked '89-'90 Bucks
D. Thompson vs 14th ranked '77-'78 Pistons
K. Thompson vs 15th ranked '16-'17 Pacers
Maravich vs 15th ranked '76-'77 Knicks
Iverson vs 18th ranked '04-'05 Magic
Robinson vs 18th ranked '93-'94 Clippers
McGrady vs 20th ranked '03-'04 Wizards
Chambers vs 21st ranked '89-'90 Sonics
Kobe vs 23rd ranked '08-'09 Knicks
Arenas vs 24th ranked '06-'07 Lakers
Kobe vs 26th ranked '06-'07 Blazers
Kobe vs 29th ranked '05-'06 Raptors
Shaq vs 29th ranked '99-'00 Clippers
Kobe vs 30th ranked '06-'07 Grizzlies
By offensive ratings:
Kobe vs 1st ranked '05-'06 Mavs
Jordan vs 4th ranked '86-'87 Hawks
Kobe vs 5th ranked '05-'06 Raptors
Arenas vs 7th ranked '05-'06 Lakers
Chambers vs 8th ranked '89-'90 Sonics
Jordan vs 9th ranked '86-'87 Pistons
Maravich vs 10th ranked '77-'78 Knicks
D. Thompson vs 12th ranked '77-'78 Pistons
Kobe vs 13th ranked '06-'07 Grizzlies
Jordan vs 13th ranked '92-'93 Magic
King vs 13th ranked '84-'85 Nets
Kobe vs 16th ranked '15-'16 Jazz
Bird vs 16th ranked '84-'85 Hawks
Kobe vs 17th ranked '08-'09 Knicks
Malone vs 17th ranked '89-'90 Bucks
Jordan vs 19th ranked '89-'90 Cavs
K. Thompson vs 19th ranked '16-'17 Pacers
Kobe vs 20th ranked '06-'07 Blazers
Gervin vs 21st ranked '77-'78 Jazz
Iverson vs 21st ranked '04-'05 Magic
Carmelo vs 24th ranked '13-'14 Bobcats
LeBron vs 24th ranked '13-'14 Bobcats
Robinson vs 22nd ranked '93-'94 Clippers
McGrady vs 27th ranked '03-'04 Wizards
Shaq vs 28th ranked '99-'00 Clippers
Look at any metric, and it's clear that Dallas is one of the best teams to ever have 60+ points scored against them. And if those metrics aren't enough for you, consider that the Mavs went to the Finals that year. Yes, Kobe dropped 62 points on a Finals level team. And he did it in three quarters. Here's how his minutes played compared to everyone else's.
Minutes played:
K. Thompson 29 minutes played vs '16-'17 Pacers
Kobe 33 minutes played vs '05-'06 Mavs
Malone 33 minutes played vs '89-'90 Bucks
Kobe 37 minutes played vs '08-'09 Knicks
Carmelo 39 minutes played vs '13-'14 Bobcats
Jordan 41 minutes played vs '86-'87 Hawks
King 41 minutes played vs '84-'85 Nets
LeBron 41 minutes played vs '13-'14 Bobcats
Kobe 42 minutes played vs '15-'16 Jazz
Kobe 42 minutes played vs '05-'06 Raptors
Chambers 42 minutes played vs '89-'90 Sonics
Iverson 42 minutes played vs '04-'05 Magic
Jordan 43 minutes played vs '86-'87 Pistons
Bird 43 minutes played vs '84-'85 Hawks
Robinson 44 minutes played vs '93-'94 Clippers
Kobe 45 minutes played vs '06-'07 Grizzlies
Shaq 45 minutes played vs '99-'00 Clippers
McGrady 46 minutes played vs '03-'04 Wizards
Jordan 47 minutes played vs '92-'93 Magic
Arenas 49 minutes played vs '06-'07 Lakers
Kobe 50 minutes played vs '06-'07 Blazers
Jordan 50 minutes played vs '89-'90 Cavs
*minutes played for Maravich, D. Thompson, and Gervin not available
So Kobe scored 62 against one of the best teams to ever give that up and he did it in fewer minutes than anyone but one guy. And that's not all. Do you know how many points Dallas had after three quarters? 61. Yes, Kobe outscored a Finals level team through three quarters. Even on a bad night for Dallas, that's insane. Dropping 60+ on a Finals bound team is crazy. Outscoring a team is crazy. Outscoring a Finals quality team? Absurd. It's one of the greatest performances ever and one of the least talked about. It is greatness unrecognized.
