As the Los Angeles Lakers look for their eighth straight win over the New York Knicks tonight, the story just might be Kobe Bryant at Madison Square Garden. Kobe holds several records at the historic arena, including most points with 61 in a Lakers' win in 2009. Kobe and the Lakers are 9-3 in his 12 career games at MSG, and here are the arena records held by Bryant:
- Most points: 61, 2/2/09
- Most free throws made: 23, 1/31/06 (also a Lakers' franchise record)
- Most free throws made without a miss: 20, 2/2/09 (also second-most without a miss in NBA history, behind Dominique Wilkins' 23-23 performance in 1992)
- Most free throws attempted: 26, 1/31/06 (also also tied a Lakers' franchise record)
| Kobe Bryant at Madison Square Garden | |||||||
| Date | FG | FT | 3Pt | Pts | Reb | Ast | Result |
| 1/22/10 | 8-24 | 8-8 | 3-9 | 27 | 5 | 6 | Win |
| 2/2/09 | 19-31 | 20-20 | 3-6 | 61 | 0 | 3 | Win |
| 12/23/07 | 14-28 | 6-7 | 5-12 | 39 | 11 | 8 | Win |
| 1/31/06 | 7-17 | 23-26 | 3-8 | 40 | 3 | 3 | Win |
| 2/28/05 | 7-17 | 14-17 | 2-5 | 30 | 5 | 8 | Loss |
| 11/19/03 | 7-13 | 7-9 | 0-0 | 21 | 2 | 4 | Win |
| 2/6/03 | 17-27 | 8-11 | 4-4 | 46 | 6 | 3 | Win |
| 2/24/02 | 10-18 | 6-6 | 1-1 | 27 | 6 | 5 | Win |
| 1/25/01 | 12-27 | 8-11 | 1-3 | 33 | 11 | 3 | Loss |
| 3/19/00 | 8-23 | 7-10 | 1-4 | 24 | 9 | 7 | Win |
| 3/1/98 | 4-15 | 5-5 | 1-5 | 14 | 5 | 0 | Loss |
| 11/5/96 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Win |
| Totals | 46.9% | 85.6% | 42.1% | 30.3 | 5.3 | 4.2 | 9-3 |
| Source: Basketball-Reference.com | |||||||
Kobe has scored 40 or more points three times at Madison Square Garden. In 10 career starts in the building, he is averaging 34.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and five assists.
For more information on tonight's game, be sure to read Silver Screen and Roll.