Dame names Steph, Klay as players who could match Kobe's 81

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No NBA player has matched Kobe Bryant's 81-point performance since the late Los Angeles Lakers legend did so on Jan. 22, 2006. The big question now is, who could match that crazy night? 

Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard has a few ideas

“If somebody gets close to Kobe’s 81, I think it would be between me, Steph ... Devin Booker can really get hot," Lillard said on the "Dan Patrick Show" back on May 4. "I would say someone on Brooklyn, but with all three of them being out there, it’s going to be tough. So I would say me, Steph, Devin Booker ...

"Klay could do it. I think Bradley Beal can do it, too.”

Lillard said it would have to be against a certain kind of team on a perfect night where everything goes right. 

“It’s going to take a crazy night, but it can happen," Lillard said. "It would have to be against a team with a big that is not mobile. Because they wouldn’t be able to be as high like in pick-and-rolls and stuff like that.”

For comparison's sake, Booker actually has scored the most points in a single game out of the star-studded group that Lillard listed. He scored 70 points on March 24, 2017, which is tied for the 10th-most ever. Curry has the second-most from Lillard's group, dropping 62 points earlier this season against Dame's Blazers. 

Lillard's career-high is 61 points, which he reached twice last season. And Thompson's most points scored in a single game in 60, but he did so in only three quarters and just 29 minutes played. 

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That's the real issue. It's highly unlikely a coach would allow a player to be in the game long enough to score as many or more points than Bryant did years ago. 

However, with the way the game is played now and the range that the Splash Brothers and Co. have, it could be done if the stars align. 

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