The two bright moments of the game, for the Lakers anyway, came in the first quarter, when Kobe Bryant passed Larry Bird (21,791 points) for 23rd on the all-time scoring list, and then again in the fourth quarter when he passed Gary Payton (21,813 points) for 22nd.
Then, because it was that kind of night for the Lakers, Iverson hopped into the record-breaking picture and passed Elgin Baylor (23,149 points) for 19th on the all-time list with two free throws with 3:22 to go.
In a fun coincidence, Bryant and Iverson entered the league in the same season, 1996-97. Bryant has actually played in 37 more games than Iverson, though Iverson had played over 3,000 more minutes.
