Throughout his outstanding career with the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant always seemed to have something special in store for the Dallas Mavericks.
Whether it was the epic 62 points in three quarters game. Or the famous ‘Amnesty That!’ game after Mark Cuban had some words. Or even scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter to lead a 30-point comeback in 2002, Kobe just always seemed to haunt the Mavericks and that also was the case on March 2, 2008.
Kobe torched the Mavericks for 52 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Lakers to a hard-fought 108-104 overtime victory. As is usually the case, Bryant saved his best for when it mattered most, scoring 30 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to ensure the Lakers victory.
The Lakers certainly needed every bit of Kobe’s explosion as they shot just 37.9 percent from the field as a team. In fact, Luke Walton was the only player other than Bryant to hit at least half of his shots.
That doesn’t mean nobody else contributed to this win. Pau Gasol finished with 17 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. He was still in just his first month with the Lakers.
Dirk Nowitzki did his best to try and lead his team with 30 points and 13 rebounds, including the game-tying 3-pointer that sent the game to overtime. The Mavericks also got strong performances from Erick Dampier (16 points, 17 rebounds) and Jason Kidd (15 points, 11 assists, four steals), but none of it was enough to deny Kobe.
One of the things that made Kobe special was his will to win. He would always do everything in his power to make sure his team came out on top and even a good team like the Mavericks couldn’t stop him, which tended to be the case more often than not throughout his career.
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