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

4. 43 points on April 2nd, 2006

During the 2005-06 season the Black Mamba posted the best scoring average of his 20-year career. Kobe averaged 35.4 points per game, which led the league in scoring. Kobe’s Lakers faced off against the Rockets on three separate occasions and he posted a record of 2-1 during that season.

During those three games, Kobe averaged 33 points per game and made 51.3 percent of his shots while shooting 37.5 percent from 3-point range. During the Lakers’ third and final game against the Rockets, Kobe scored 43 points on a lethal 59.4 percent from the floor and a venomous 60 percent from downtown.

All the Black Mamba needed was 32 shots to get there and he also added six assists, which lifted the Lakers to a 104-88 victory. Kobe had a true shooting percentage of 65.4 percent and proved to be too much for the Rockets, yet again.

The Lakers led 88-70 heading into the fourth quarter, thus Kobe only played in four minutes of the fourth quarter, which cut the Rockets some slack. The way Kobe was dominating the Rockets on that night, he could have easily done more damage in the fourth quarter, especially if he wanted to.

But one of the things that we could all appreciate about Kobe is the fact that he didn’t care about stats or numbers, he simply did whatever was necessary to lead the Lakers to victory.

Next: No. 3