Kobe’s 60 good for history, win

Kobe Bryant threw his teammates on his back, again, taking them on a ride through history that put him alongside Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan and Elgin Baylor.

Bryant had 60 points Thursday against the Memphis Grizzlies, becoming the fourth player in NBA history to score 50 or more points in three consecutive games.

A footnote, almost, was a 121-119 victory over the Grizzlies at FedExForum, an event that pushed the Lakers a game ahead of the Denver Nuggets for sixth place in the Western Conference.

Bryant was again the central theme throughout the night, tucking away another effort that didn’t quite match the 65 points he scored last Friday against Minnesota but bettered the 50 he had Sunday against Minnesota.

Bryant, 60 points. Is anybody surprised anymore?

“We’ve seen him get 81 before. It’s not surprising,” forward Lamar Odom said. “It’s a blessing to be on the court when he’s feeling it like that, to be part of history.”

No player had scored 50-plus points in three consecutive games since Jordan in April 1987 with Chicago. Baylor, in December 1962, was the only Laker to have done it.

Chamberlain is the only player to score at least 50 in more than three consecutive games. He did it in 1961 with Philadelphia (seven consecutive games) and in 1962 with San Francisco (five consecutive games).

“Growing up, I idolized all of them, from Wilt to MJ to Elgin,” Bryant said. “It’s a tremendous honor for me to be in that same class with those guys in terms of being in the history books.”

The Lakers (36-32) play tonight in New Orleans, where two streaks will be monitored -- Bryant’s scoring spree and the Lakers’ modest three-game winning streak.

That both were extended against the team with the league’s worst record -- Memphis is now 17-52 -- was almost inconsequential for a unit that will take any victory it can get. A seven-game losing streak, terminated last week, slipped a little further into the past after Bryant’s 36-point outburst in the second half.

“This is a stretch where we really need to make up some ground, try to get some rhythm back on this trip,” Bryant said. “I’m doing my part. All the guys are stepping up, doing theirs as well.

“To get in rhythm, I have to get great picks, great looks, great passes. You can’t do that without the help of your teammates in particular because they’re sending double- and triple-teams [at me].”

Bryant made 20 of 37 shots and 17 of 18 free throws in 45 minutes. He had five rebounds and four assists.

Odom, torn labrum and all, came through with 20 points, 15 rebounds and four assists.

These aren’t the Lakers of the early season, when the share-the-ball wealth got them to a 26-13 start, only to be undone by a slew of injuries.

These are now Bryant’s Lakers, for better or, lately, not worse.

“We just kept going back to him as he rose to the occasion,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “He asked to stay in the ball game as the second unit came back in. I let him ride the energy. He rode the curve real well.”

The Lakers needed more time from Bryant because reserve forward Maurice Evans sat out with a sore right knee that has nagged him for weeks.

Bryant complied, willingly, although the night ended with minor controversy.

Bryant was called for an offensive foul with 10.3 seconds to play after catching Dahntay Jones in the neck area with one of his elbows while the Lakers inbounded the ball following Mike Miller’s three-point shot for Memphis.

Nobody seemed to think it was anything more than just a foul.

“He was just trying to push off,” Jones said. “He didn’t see my neck, so he wound up pushing off on my neck. But it wasn’t intentional. I was so low, that he hit me in that spot.”

Bryant, suspended twice this season for striking a player on his follow-through of a shot, said Jones flopped.

“If he says he didn’t flop, he’s a liar,” Bryant said. “He knows what he did.”

Bryant and the Lakers know what was accomplished Thursday. So, too, does history.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

The fab four

Kobe Bryant joined Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and Michael Jordan as players to score 50 or more points in three straight games:

* BRYANT (2007)...65, 50, 60

* JORDAN (1987)...53, 50, 61

* BAYLOR (1962)...50, 51, 52

* CHAMBERLAIN

Scored 50 or more points in a game 118 times and set an NBA record with seven consecutive 50-point games in December 1961. In 1962, Chamberlain had five 50-point games in a row.

Source: NBA.com