No Bynum, no problem!

New York, NY

For the second season in a row Lakers big man Andrew Bynum is out with a devastating knee injury. Tonight in the first game following the recent injury, Andrew's fellow big man Pau Gasol came up bigger in his absence, scoring 31 points against the New York Knickerbockers in a 126-117 road victory. The biggest story of the night however was Kobe Bryant. The reigning league MVP came up huge on the biggest stage in the NBA. Bryant led all scorers, and broke a Madison Square Garden record dropping 61 points in the win. Breaking the record of Knicks legend Bernard King (60) and the 55 dropped by Jordan as an opponent, Bryant stole the show. Amid chants of 'MVP', and a showering of boo's Kobe scored his 60th and 61st points at the free throw line. He then came off the court to a standing ovation and a Phil Jackson high-five. Bryant was a perfect 20 for 20 from the free throw line. This game marked Bryant's fifth 40 point game at MSG, his 24th career fifty pt. game, and the highest individual scoring game in the league this season. 

Entering the game the New York Knicks had dubbed this "Dream Week", as they host the three teams with the best records in the NBA. Starting tonight it was the Lakers, followed by the Cavs and Celtics with a day off in between each game. I sure hope they didn't look too far ahead and set themselves up for "Nightmare Week". Before the game, even when asked about the the opportunity to elevate his teams game, Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni might have been a little cautiously optimistic stating, "These will be three great games to do that and whatever happens we'll spin it the best way we can." As a coach I surmise it was the best way to go about things but his players were enthusiastic about the week ahead. Before the game, New York guard Chris Duhon added, "We've beaten good teams before, beaten big teams recently, so we shouldn't be intimidated." I like his confidence, that is one of the most underrated attributes an athlete can have. Duhon may have only scored 8 points in the loss but I expect he'll rebound well as the week goes on. In tonight's game the Knicks were paced by forwards Al Harrington and David Lee with 24 and 22 points respectively. Sophomore Wilson Chandler added 20 points coming off the bench. The Knicks are now 21-26 and will have a day off to prepare for Lebron James and the Cavaliers. 

In the midst of Kobe Bryant's record setting performance at the Garden tonight, Pau Gasol put up a huge game. The game was clearly unbalanced for Los Angeles with Kobe and Pau scoring 92 of the 126. Gasol filled up his box sheet with 31 points, 14 boards, 5 assists, and 2 blocked shots. This is the kind of effort the Lakers are going to need night in and night out if they want to survive this spell without Bynum. Trevor Ariza came off the bench and was the only other Laker to reach double figures scoring 13 against the team that previously drafted him in the 2nd round. For a chance to beat Boston and Cleveland to round out this road trip, the Lakers will need to find some balance. 

It should also be noted that even if Kobe didn't know he was approaching the record, Phil Jackson assuredly did. Jackson is known throughout the league for being on top of game statistics. More relevant is the fact that PJ could have taken Bryant out of the game seemingly any time in the fourth quarter with the large lead the Lakers had built. Instead, once Kobe had about 53 points, Jackson stayed with him on the floor and let him do the rest. Kobe got 61, broke the record, then Phil took him out of the game at the next whistle. Even more special for Bryant was the reaction from the Madison Square Garden fans. Knicks fans pay the highest ticket price in the league, even more than Laker fans at Staples, and see arguably one of the most disappointing teams play. The New York fans are an astute bunch and as such stuck around for the show Kobe put on and awarded him when he left the court. Bryant received a standing ovation from the crowd, even director and famous Knick follower Spike Lee was on his feet.

"This place is special because the fans will boo you the whole game," Bryant said, "but they appreciate the game, and tonight it felt great to get that reaction from these fans. It's them saying we love what you do and it's a great performance and we're going to celebrate that moment. It felt great."