Reaction from Coaches Tex Winter Quote: "It was amazing, I've seen Michael have big games before, but nothing quite like that. It seemed like the only one who could score for us in that first half was Kobe. No one else could hit anything. "The coaching staff was worried that his teammates were deferring to Kobe way too much, Winter said. "I've never seen a game like that in my life. He was ready, I'll tell you that. He announced it early, told us he was going for 50. He was really upset about that loss to Houston Sunday. We all were. That was ridiculous. " "But Kobe, the way he is, was not gonna back down, wasn't gonna let us lose another one. He and Michael are a lot alike in that respect. They're unyielding." Phil Jackson Quote: ?I have seen a few 60-point ball games in my time, but none of them had been done by the third quarter. His 30-point third quarter was incredible.? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Quote: "I think I'm the only guy who's seen both of the games," said the Laker assistant coach, who was 13 when he went to New York's Madison Square Garden and watched Baylor. "It's kind of a unique thing." Abdul-Jabbar didn't need an e-mail account or a Treo to share his thoughts on Bryant's game. He simply walked up to Bryant on Wednesday morning and said the two words we all should say for turning an ordinary night into a wildly entertaining one: "Thank you." Pat Riley Quote: Pat Riley, the Miami Heat coach and former Laker coach, called Bryant's performance "outrageous." Gregg Popovich Quote: Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich said that Bryant had extra motivation because the Lakers are rebuilding. "He still wants to make a statement," Popovich said last night. "He wants that team to do well and he's not going to be satisfied with, 'Well, it's going to take time, we're going to make more additions to the team.' He doesn't want to hear that, he wants to be the guy that gets it done. He's trying to make that statement. You got to give him credit for that." Avery Johnson Quote: "I want them to tell me how to stop Kobe," Johnson said with a laugh after practice at Arco Arena. "That's what I want for Christmas, and once they give me the formula, I may turn out to be a billionaire." ?I wouldn?t even classify it as Michael, it was Kobe. I?ve seen a lot of great players have great performances, but he?s made a name for himself, he has the championships, he plays consistent and so I wouldn?t compare him with anybody else?s performance.? "Look at the shot Kobe hit against us at home," Johnson said, referring to the fading 3-pointer that gave the Lakers the lead in the final minute Dec. 12. "I mean, that was an incredible shot with one second on the shot clock. A lot of times you've got to have a great sense of appreciation for how good these guys really are. Give them some credit for playing in the stratosphere where nobody else can go." ?Kobe obviously didn?t like his performance last game and he didn?t like his performance against us in game one. So he reached down even deeper than he did against us in game one, and came up with a spectacular performance.? ?We had no answer for him, we tried to double team him, we tried to zone him, we tried to trap him in the backcourt, and nothing worked. He had his way with us tonight.? ?He had it all working tonight it was like he was in the gym by himself working on all of his moves he got to the free throw line, he made threes ? he just got on one of those incredible rolls and you just don?t like being on the other side of it.? Maurice Cheeks: Quote: Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said he never had witnessed a 60-point performance. "I imagine it would be extremely hard," he said. "I can't imagine scoring 60. I would think you would go double [him], take the ball out of his hands. I don't know what I'd do if a guy was scoring that many. " It's kind of unheard of. MJ [Michael Jordan] had 63 in overtime; Wilt had how many?" Cheeks asked. Reaction From Players Smush Parker Quote: Guard Smush Parker, meanwhile, had a question for assistant coach Brian Shaw when he came to the bench in the third quarter: "Can we say that the Lakers beat the Mavericks tonight?" Robert Horry Quote: "Records are always going to be broken; I'm sure someone wanted to see him catch Wilt," the Spurs' Robert Horry said before the game against the Knicks last night at Madison Square Garden. Dirk Nowitzki Quote: "If you get outscored by a single guy," Dirk Nowitzki said, "that's embarrassing." Josh Howard Quote: ?I haven?t seen a performance like that unless you?re talking about me in high school. Other than that, no. He hit a lot of free throws?he hit just about every shot he took and he was on his game. It was his night and his team's night. We need to turn the page and get ready for Sacramento.? Bruce Bowen and other spurs Quote: The defending N.B.A. champion San Antonio Spurs talked about it on the team plane late Tuesday night coming to New York to play the Knicks, collectively shaking their heads and exclaiming eye-rolling wows. Bruce Bowen, the Spurs' defensive specialist, who has contained Bryant in playoff battles, said he had one thought once he heard about the 62 points. "Who was guarding him?" Bowen said. All of the Mavericks took turns, fruitlessly. AI Quote: " Hard as hell." That was the way Allen Iverson described the degree of difficulty in Kobe Bryant's scoring 62 points Tuesday night against the Dallas Mavericks.How about doing it in three quarters?"You gotta be a bad joker," Iverson replied "I had my popcorn just like probably everybody else. I was watching, and I was actually calling people up on the phone to make sure they were watching it, 'cause I watched the game from beginning to end," Iverson said. "It's like, when you see a game like that, you're so much a fan of the game you enjoy it just [as if] you don't play the game. Just to see him do those things... I was thinking every shot he was taking was going to go in. It was just fun to watch." "Certain games are not that interesting, but when you have marquee players playing a certain game, one of those guys explodes. That was a treat for everybody." Jalen Rose Quote: Jalen Rose said that he and his teammates were wondering how many points Bryant would have scored if Coach Phil Jackson had left him in for the fourth quarter. Rose said 75. Reaction From Owners Jerry Buss Quote: On his way out after the game, Lakers owner Jerry Buss had just one word - "Unbelievable" - to describe what he had seen. Few would have disagreed. Mark Cuban Quote: The Mavericks' owner, Mark Cuban, was in Los Angeles to watch the show and his team's helplessness. He offered tempered praise. "Kobe is a top-five player, and he proved it yesterday," Cuban said in an e-mail message. "I've watched Dirk, McGrady and other superstars take over games. When it happens it's amazing to watch." Reaction From Dallas Commentators/Announcers: Mark Followill Quote: "I?ve had a chance to broadcast well over 400 preseason, regular season and postseason Mavericks games over the last five years, and it might be another 400 before I see something like that. Kobe was as zeroed in as you will even see a pro athlete. His performance was memorable and while the Mavs tried running that second defender at him some, Kobe was moving and attacking so quickly it was impossible to stop him. " "The great players have those nights when the basket just looks huge and this was one of them. He scored on post-ups, taking it to the hoop, getting to the line and shooting three?s. It was a singular performance, and while this is a team game and the Lakers and Kobe certainly are not and never will be loved in Dallas, it was a performance that I would think any basketball fan could step back and appreciate. " Chuck Cooperstein Quote: Radio play-by-play announcer Chuck Cooperstein shares some of his thoughts about tonight's game " I don?t believe what I just saw. I can?t believe I just saw a Mavericks team truly committed to playing hard-nosed defense shredded the way Kobe Bryant shredded them in the STAPLES Center tonight. Especially after Kobe eight days earlier hit the Mavs with a 43-point explosion" "But here was Kobe scoring a Mavs opponent record 62 points in three quarters. He didn?t play in the fourth. He scored 30 points in the third quarter as the Lakers outscored the Mavs 42-17 and in fact outscored the entire Mavs team through three quarters, 62-61. It was the most stunning display of offensive basketball that I have personally witnessed. I know Michael Jordan had his 70-point game, but I didn?t see that. I saw this. "
