NBA still abuzz over Kobe's 62

"I was so frustrated from the last loss that I just tried to will us to victory," Bryant said, referring to the defeat Sunday by Houston.

He made an attempt to hide his frustration after that game, but a clenched jaw and narrowed eyes gave him away. Two nights later, the subject matter was much more enjoyable for Bryant.

"It wasn't an 'on' feeling," he explained. "I have had those feelings before, where you feel like you can hit anything you throw up.

"Tonight was a different feeling. It was just a feeling of willfulness. Even if they were going to send two guys at me, I was going to attack them and let them know I was coming after them and just send a message."

Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who coached Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls to six championships in the 1990s, was duly impressed.

"It was quite an exhibition for three quarters Kobe put on tonight," Jackson said. "I've seen a few 60-point ballgames in my time, but none of them had been done by the third quarter."

Bryant scored 15 points in the first period, 17 in the second, and a franchise-record 30 in the third before taking a seat for good with the Lakers leading 95-61.

"His 30-point third quarter was incredible," Jackson said.

The previous Lakers record for points in a quarter was 24, shared by Bryant and Hall of Famers Jerry West and Elgin Baylor.

The NBA record for points in a quarter is 33 by George Gervin of San Antonio in 1978. Denver's David Thompson scored 32 in a quarter the same season, and Wilt Chamberlain 31 for Philadelphia in 1962, when he set the single-game NBA record with 100 points.

Baylor scored a franchise-record 71 points on Nov. 15, 1960, at New York. Bryant's total is the sixth-highest in club history and the most for the Lakers since Chamberlain scored 66 at Phoenix on Feb. 9, 1969.

The 27-year-old Bryant, who brought a 31.3-point average into the game, shot 18-of-31, including 4-of-10 from 3-point range, and made 22 of 25 foul shots while playing only 33 minutes.

He scored 24 points in the 76-74 loss to Rockets -- a total he matched in the first 16 1/2 minutes of this game.

"I told them, 'I'll fix it tonight,' " he said, referring to his teammates.

And fix it, he did.

"I've never seen anyone score 62 points," Lakers center Chris Mihm said. "That third quarter was something else. He was scoring at will."

The Lakers outscored the Mavericks 42-17 in the period to break the game open.

"He had it all working tonight," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. "It was like he was in the gym by himself, working on all of his moves. He got to the free-throw line, he made 3s, he made in-between shots, he just got on one of those incredible rolls.

"We tried everything. We tried different people on him, we tried giving him different looks, and he pretty much outscored us by himself."

That's literally what happened -- when Bryant left the game, he had outscored the Mavericks by himself, 62-61.

The capacity crowd of 18,997 began chanting, "We want Kobe! We want Kobe!" early in the final period, but with the Lakers holding an insurmountable lead there was no need for Jackson to put the 6-foot-6 star back into the game.

"It was a 30-point basketball game at that point and that's not the spirit of the game," Jackson said. "I did ask Kobe if he wanted to go back in and contend for the (franchise) record. He asked me what I thought, and I said, "It's a 30-point game.' "

Bryant said afterward there was no reason for him to return. He matched his previous career high of 56 points by making two free throws with 1:02 left in the third quarter. He went on to score six more points in the period, capping his amazing night by making a long 3-pointer with 4.4 seconds left.

As the period ended, Bryant held a hand to his ear and the volume increased even more. Bryant then called it a night.

"It's a great feeling, to do it here at Staples Center in front of our fans -- kind of an early Christmas present to them," Bryant said.

Bryant became the first NBA player to reach 60 points since Philadelphia's Allen Iverson scored that many in a 112-99 victory over Orlando last February.

His total was the highest in Staples Center history, surpassing the 61 points Shaquille O'Neal scored against the Clippers on March 6, 2000 — O'Neal's 28th birthday.