Kobe Bryant Finishes With A Flourish — 60 Points

Bryant scored 23 points in the fourth quarter, posting his first 50-point game since February 2009 and rallying the Lakers from a 15-point deficit to win the final game of the worst season in franchise history. With the entire Staples Center crowd standing, Bryant drained a three-pointer with 59 seconds left. The entire night was a tribute to Bryant, who is retiring after 20 seasons, five championship rings and 18 All-Star selections with the Lakers, who honored him before and after the game. Bryant is just the fifth player in NBA history to play 20 seasons, and the first with just one team. Between the whistles, Bryant and his teammates conspired for one last omnivorous scoring performance by the third-leading scorer in NBA history. Magic Johnson anchored a brief pregame tribute by calling Bryant “the biggest and greatest celebrity we’ve had in this town for 20 years” and “the greatest to wear the purple and gold.” After blowing kisses and pounding his heart before the game, Bryant got right to work on what the fans wanted to see. James Harden scored 38 points and Houston took the final Western Conference playoff spot with an easy victory over visiting Sacramento. Rookies Boban Marjanovic and Jonathon Simmons set career scoring highs and San Antonio rallied past host Dallas despite leaving home four starters and two key reserves. Mirza Teletovic scored 22 points to lead seven Phoenix players in double figures and the Suns finished their second-worst season in franchise history by beating a squad made up almost entirely of Los Angeles bench players. The visiting Clippers, who left Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford home, still won 10 of 12 games heading into their first-round playoff series against Portland. Damian Lillard had 21 points before sitting in the final quarter and Portland, with its playoff fate sealed earlier Wednesday, beat visiting Denver. LeBron James wore a black blazer and watched from the bench and all the starters for Cleveland and Detroit rested for their first-round playoff matchup as Jodie Meeks scored 20 to lead the Pistons past the host Cavaliers. Rookie Norman Powell scored a career-high 30 points and visiting Toronto wrapped up the best regular season in franchise history by beating Brooklyn. With a seemingly half-hearted showing in its final regular-season game, visiting Atlanta lost to a bunch of backups for Washington and wound up with the No.