LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Kobe Bryant has great respect for the man whose franchise records he keeps breaking.

Bryant broke Elgin Baylor's single-season scoring record with a flourish, getting 50 points Friday night in a 110-99 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night. But he won't sit by his cell phone waiting for any congratulatory response from the Clippers' general manager, who set the mark during the 1962-63 season.

"I don't expect him to. I mean, he's with the Clippers and I'm with the Lakers," Bryant said. "But if he picks up the paper and reads about it, he should know that I owe a lot of it to him and to the other great players as well, because I really learned a lot about the game from watching them."

Bryant has been aware of Baylor ever since age 6, when his grandparents sent him a tape called "Golden Greats of the NBA." He didn't just watch it, he studied it -- over and over, year after year.

"I just steal all of their moves and incorporate them into my game," Bryant said. "I copied Elgin's first step. It's actually a `rocker' step, which is kind of a stutter move."

Bryant, closing in on his first NBA scoring title, reached the 50-point mark for the sixth time this season and 11th time in his career. The Lakers are 8-3 in those games.

He eclipsed two other franchise records this season that Baylor held -- most points in a game and most 40-point games in a season. Bryant, whose 81 points against Toronto on Jan. 22 were second-most ever in an NBA game, came in needing only 16 to surpass Baylor's mark of 2,719. He did that with 9:06 left in the third quarter, draining a 3-pointer after missing two free throws 44 seconds earlier.

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"It means a lot to me because we're playing well and we're in a position where we can get into the playoffs and make some noise," Bryant said. "We've achieved everything we have as a team, and the individual stuff just makes for a more pleasant journey."

Lamar Odom recorded his second straight triple-double. He finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds and tied a career high with 12 assists, after going 15-13-10 against Golden State on Tuesday for his first triple-double with the Lakers. He is the first player on the team with consecutive triple-doubles since December 2004, when Bryant did it against Golden State and Phoenix.

"I hope I can keep it going and take it into the playoffs," Odom said. "I'd really like to get four in a row going into the postseason. I'm just staying focused throughout the game and not letting one or two missed shots get me down. I'm just doing all the little things I need to do to win games."

Kwame Brown had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who sent the Blazers to their 15th straight road loss with their ninth win in 12 games. The only thing that prevented Los Angeles from clinching a playoff berth was Utah's 105-104 victory over New Orleans, which was completed shortly before the Lakers and Blazers tipped off.

"We need to keep playing this way if we want to shock some people in the playoffs," Odom said. "No one had us making the playoffs -- and now we'll probably be picked to lose in the first round. So this is a lot of fun, being an underdog."

Reserve guard Martell Webster scored 18 points for the Trail Blazers, who sent forward Darius Miles home on Thursday for disciplinary reasons before losing their fifth straight overall and 30th in their last 34 games.

Miles, who spent the entire first half of Wednesday night's 97-93 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on the bench, was punished by coach Nate McMillan for changing into his street clothes at halftime of that game. The team did not characterize the move as a suspension, but Miles' status was unknown for Saturday night's game against Golden State at the Rose Garden. He is in the second year of a six-year, $48 million contract.

Odom secured his 10th career triple-double with an assist on Bryant's 3-pointer, which gave the Lakers an 86-77 lead with 10:18 to play. Portland got as close as 88-86 on a 3-pointer by Webster with 7:38 remaining. But the Lakers responded with a 15-4 run, including nine points from Bryant, to extend the margin to 103-90 with 2:49 left.

"Right now it looks like Kobe's challenging himself in the fourth quarter to see if he can just dominate," Portland coach Nate McMillan said. "Before we could even get a double-team on him, the ball was released. And there's not much more you can do about that."

Notes

A victory on Sunday against Phoenix would keep Phil Jackson's perfect record as an NBA head coach intact -- guiding a team to the playoffs for the 15th time in 15 tries without ever finishing the regular season with a losing record. ... The Trail Blazers have won only 15 of 81 road games over the last two seasons. They are a league-worst 6-34 this season away from the Rose Garden, and are assured of finishing with their worst road record since going 5-36 in 1973-74.

who gives a FUCK gluvnast. quit riding kobes dick

Im surprised that baylor had that single season scoring record, i would have thought it was wilt or west but then i remember that wilt was like 33 or something when he went to the lakers and west always had baylor on his team

Thats Good... Im Happy For Kobe, Hes Making History

i thought elgin baylor was there BEFORE jerry west

i know west and WILT were teamed together and they HAD before the '96 bulls, held the season winning record

nah they were on the same team remember the season the lakers had the 33 game winning streak it started after the game elgin baylor retired and i know west was not a rookie that season

mah boy here in beverly should be in the NBA . he choosin the street life though. it really a sad thing

gluvnast u punk rap battle me

hey question mark..i checked it out, you was right i was wrong


@ beverly..lemee see your skills and i'll decide from there

gluvnast is fat
and hes wack
and smokes crack
better watch your back
or i will attack
straight up fire bitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i rip when i rhyme
i rhyme when i rip

your shit is WACK mayne!!!!!!!!!lol u garbage

just tellin da truth mayne dont get all emotional

Kobe 4 MVP

Jordan>>>>>>>>Kobe
Lebron>>>>>>>>Kobe
D-Wade>>>>>>>Kobe
Tim Duncan>>>>Kobe

kobe deserves mvp he the only player doing something on his team and still gonna make the playoffs. and if you break the scoring record on the lakers team, that shows you had a great season

that's where i disagree with... the leadership

i remember only a few months ago, people was questioning if lebron CAN be a leader or if he WANTS to be a leader....

kobe on the other hand, have no choice BUT to lead...which is why the lakers are in where they are in right now...

i WILL agree that lebron is a better TEAM player...but damn near ANYONE is when you speak of kobe....lol

Congrats to Kobe.

I don't think he's elevated smush and how has he elevated Kwame? Dude still a bum.

Kobe is a narcissistic ball hogger.

Bron or Nash for MVP, easily.

hey that's no secret about kobe being a ball hogs...in truth its sorta played when you make triple doubles every now and then, but no arguement on kobe NOT being the team type player....

but AI ball hogs just as much as kobe and HE was once considered MVP, but doing whut he does...and kobe these days REALLY don't have a choice, considering how disappointing brown has been career-wise, as well as odem...yet somehow they gotten BETTER when kobe's around...last game when kobe scored 50, kwame actually scored 20 and lamar had a triple double...

the thing is that EVERYBODY knows that the ball is going to KOBE...yet kobe still somehow getting these lakers to the playoffs...

nash IS goig to get MVP, but the most deserving is KOBE, because not only he's breaking NBA and franchise records, he's making the TEAM better at the sametime...that's more than whut nash is doing, nash maybe leading the team, but that's like calling big ben from the steelers leading the way without THE BUS...they're STILL A GREAT TEAM either way.....

as for lebron, the inconsistency he had during mid-season is going to hurt him, whether you like it or not, taking charge in game time decisions ARE key in picking MVP...and people SHOULDN'T look at whut the players have done recently and look at whut they done ALL season...

said this before, NOBODY this season have done more than kobe...people take more focus on TEAM record than the individual themselves....i look at the person that's MOST VALUABLE to the team as well as the NBA...and kobe fits that bill

kwame brown is WACK, but that even backs my claim up that kobe have no choice BUT to take it upon his shoulders...and you have to admit, there are nights like the last game where kobe made brown look halfway decent...

like i said before, if nash was out...the suns STILL have a possibility, not a GREAT possibility, but a possibility of making the playoffs...

you saw whut happened with the cavs without lebron, they STILL played a decent game...

the lakers without KOBE???? they would of been one of the WORST in the league...and that's not remotely an exaggeration

oh yeah and andrew bynum might also be a beast too hes on the come up his bench max has come from like 135 on draft night to 215 so hes improving

Kobe is the only one with the heart to try and be better than everybody else.......he's chasin Mike right now for 50 point games in a single season, he got 6, Mike got 8, Kobe 'll score 50 tomorrow.....Dantoni will let 'em score, but defend everyone else......he's only 27, dude got like 7 more strong years,he'll be on top of the mountain.........

^^hope ur not saying hell be better than jordan in a couple of years

Yes I'm sayin Kwame will still be no better than Kandiman in 5 years! I'm not sayin that Kandi hasn't done shit because he is a good contributor every now and then...But that's it! Bynum, I think he will surpass Kwame in no later than 3 yrs from now.



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Nah man KB(whatever his number is) is a BEAST MAN!!!! LMAO


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kobe's breakin all records xcept field goal percentage, assists, rebounds........
oh this is my new name , old name is ROLAND

ROLAND , WHAT A FUKED UP NAME