Ranking Kobe Bryant’s 6 best performances against the Houston Rockets

5. 41 points on November 4th, 2009

At the start of the 2009-10 season, there were questions of whether the Lakers would be able to repeat as champions, as they ended up winning the title during the 2008-09 season against former Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard, who was then a member of the Orlando Magic.

The Lakers faced off against the Rockets during their fifth game of the regular season and Kobe dropped 41 points on the Rockets, which were the most points he had scored up until that point of the season. This ended up being the fourth-most points Kobe would score all season, and he had a field-goal percentage of 50 percent.

Kobe had six rebounds, four assists and four steals and had 15 free-throw attempts, which was the third-most he had all season. Kobe played a large part in both Shane Battier and Trevor Ariza each getting three fouls, and also played a part in Chuck Hayes fouling out of the game.

With 7:12 remaining in the game, Kobe carried the Lakers, as he would score 10 straight points, and would be responsible for the Lakers’ final 13 points, which included an assist to Metta World Peace that gave the Lakers a 92-89 lead. Ariza and the Rockets responded with a triple of their own, which took the game to overtime.

Kobe would score six of the Lakers’ 11 points in overtime, and the Lakers would hold on to win 103-102 on the road. Kobe had a true shooting percentage of 56 percent in the game.

Next: No. 4