# Kobe Bryant's 81-point game
Kobe Bryant's 81-point game was a [National Basketball Association](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-basketball-association) performance on January 22, 2006, in which the [Los Angeles Lakers](https://www.edgepedia.org/los-angeles-lakers) guard scored 81 points against the [Toronto Raptors](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-raptors) at Staples Center in Los Angeles, the second-highest single-game total in league history at the time, behind only Wilt Chamberlain's 100 points on March 2, 1962.[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary) • [2](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/in-a-career-of-scoring-genius-kobe-bryants-81-point-game-stands-alone/) The Lakers won the game 122-104.[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date and site | January 22, 2006, Staples Center, Los Angeles; Lakers 122, Raptors 104[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary) |
| Shooting line | 28 of 46 field goals (60%), 7 of 13 from three-point range per the seven makes reported, 18 of 20 free throws[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary) |
| Second half | 55 points after halftime, outscoring the entire Toronto team 55-41[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary) |
| Efficiency | 3 turnovers against 3 steals in 42 minutes despite heavy ball domination[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary) |
| Historical rank | Second-highest single-game total in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100 (March 2, 1962)[2](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/in-a-career-of-scoring-genius-kobe-bryants-81-point-game-stands-alone/) |
| Later surpassed | Bam Adebayo scored 83 points for Miami in March 2026, moving Bryant to third on the all-time list[3](https://apnews.com/article/f867bb9f002c075d25e5fb3fc718d6db) |
## The game
Neither team entered as a contender. Toronto was rebuilding around a young [Chris Bosh](https://www.edgepedia.org/chris-bosh), while Bryant's supporting cast included starters [Smush Parker](https://www.edgepedia.org/smush-parker) and Chris Mihm, and the matchup was not hotly anticipated.[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary) For a half, the Raptors controlled the game. They led 63-49 at the break on 65% shooting, their best-executed half of the season to that point, and the Lakers trailed by as many as 18 points.[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary) Bryant had 26 first-half points, a strong but unremarkable total for him.[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary)
**The second half changed everything.** Bryant scored 55 points after halftime, outscoring Toronto 55-41 on his own, and turned a potential Raptors win into a 122-104 Lakers victory.[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary) His final points came on a pair of free throws with 42 seconds left.[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary) The Lakers later had shirts made with the number 81 to commemorate the performance.[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary)
## Why Bryant kept scoring
Bryant's teammates were cold, which pushed the offense through him. The Lakers bench shot 2-for-11, [Lamar Odom](https://www.edgepedia.org/lamar-odom) went 1-for-7, and [Kwame Brown](https://www.edgepedia.org/kwame-brown) went 1-for-5; coach [Phil Jackson](https://www.edgepedia.org/phil-jackson) said afterward, "We just had to keep going with the hot hand."[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary) Sam Mitchell, the Raptors' coach, later said the difference from Bryant's other big nights was that this time he needed every point to win: "At halftime, he decided to take the freaking game over."[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary)
Mitchell tried an unusual range of defenses, including a box-and-1 and a triangle-and-2, schemes rarely seen at the NBA level, and had [José Calderón](https://www.edgepedia.org/jose-calderon-basketball) face-guard Bryant to deny him the ball. Mitchell resisted calls to triple-team, arguing that leaving 6-foot-11 players open near the basket to double a shooter 18 feet away was not viable, and refused to instruct a hard foul on Bryant.[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary) None of it worked. Bryant scored against eight different Toronto defenders, including [Jalen Rose](https://www.edgepedia.org/jalen-rose), Morris Peterson, and Joey Graham, torching Rose for 18 points and Peterson for 17. Calderón noted afterward that Bryant's shots were contested, not open.[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary)
## The shooting line
The efficiency of the night is what separates it from volume scoring. Bryant took 46 shots and made 28, 60%, and went 18-for-20 from the free throw line while making seven three-pointers.[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary) In 42 minutes he committed only three turnovers, matched by three steals.[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary) Mitchell recalled Bryant describing the night in a later conversation: "He said the basket looked like the ocean. No matter what he was throwing up, it was going in."[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary)
## Place in NBA scoring history
Only Chamberlain's 100-point game for the Philadelphia Warriors against the [New York Knicks](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-knicks) on March 2, 1962 stands above it in the NBA record books, a mark set 44 years earlier and long considered unreachable.[2](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/in-a-career-of-scoring-genius-kobe-bryants-81-point-game-stands-alone/) • [6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jan-24-sp-adande24-story.html) The next-highest totals include David Thompson's 73 points in 1978 and Chamberlain's own 70-plus games, of which he had six.[4](https://www.nba.com/news/archive-75-wilt-chamberlain) About three months before the Raptors game, Bryant scored 62 against the [Dallas Mavericks](https://www.edgepedia.org/dallas-mavericks), but Jackson pulled him for good after three quarters; the Toronto game, needing a comeback, went the distance.[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary)
**The record has since moved.** In March 2026, [Miami Heat](https://www.edgepedia.org/miami-heat) center [Bam Adebayo](https://www.edgepedia.org/bam-adebayo) scored 83 points against the [Washington Wizards](https://www.edgepedia.org/washington-wizards), surpassing Bryant's 81 and making Bryant's total the third-highest in NBA history. Adebayo's night also set league marks for free throws made and attempted in a game for the Heat in a 150-129 win.[3](https://apnews.com/article/f867bb9f002c075d25e5fb3fc718d6db) Commentators noted a structural difference: Bryant's 81 came with the Lakers leading 91–85 entering the fourth quarter, so the game was still close, whereas most very high single-game totals occur in games a player's team already controls.[5](https://as.com/baloncesto/nba/una-hazana-imposible-de-repetir-f202603-n/) • [7](https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/pbp/200601220LAL.html) Bryant's 81 was captured live on video in its entirety, unlike Chamberlain's 1962 game, which survives in photographs and a handwritten score sheet, a reason it remains the reference point for scoring under modern rules.[1](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary)
## References
1. [Looking back at Kobe Bryant's iconic 81-point game on 20th anniversary, NBA.com (Shaun Powell)](https://www.nba.com/news/kobe-bryant-81-point-game-20th-anniversary)
2. [In a career of scoring genius, Kobe Bryant's 81-point game stands alone, CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/in-a-career-of-scoring-genius-kobe-bryants-81-point-game-stands-alone/)
3. [Bam! Heat's Adebayo scores 83 points, 2nd only to Wilt Chamberlain in NBA history, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/f867bb9f002c075d25e5fb3fc718d6db)
4. [Archive 75: Wilt Chamberlain, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/news/archive-75-wilt-chamberlain)
5. [Una hazaña imposible de repetir, AS.com](https://as.com/baloncesto/nba/una-hazana-imposible-de-repetir-f202603-n/)
6. [Where There's Wilt ..., Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jan-24-sp-adande24-story.html)
7. [basketball-reference.com](https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/pbp/200601220LAL.html)
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