LeBron or Kobe?

Everyone needs to remember that New York doesn't play any defense at all but I still want to compare the two performances and tell you which performance I think was better.

Kobe had 61 points, which is the most ever in the Garden and he did it first.

Then LeBron went for 52 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. He did it second but that my friends is a triple double. Now I know he got his 10th rebound with 2 seconds left but its still at triple double and still would've been great if he got 9 rebounds.

Those are the pure stat lines but now I want to talk about the stuff beyond the stat sheet. They say Lebron is playing better defense this year. That's awesome but Kobe is a perennial all-NBA defensive player so Lebron can play better D all he wants but Kobe is still right there with him.

Lebron played a few more minutes but to me that really doesn't make a huge difference.

Kobe had just lost Bynum the night before and Gasol was his only real helper.

Lebron has Mo Williams, and Zydrunas is back.

Kobe didn't miss as many shots and didn't miss any free throws.

I think both of these guys had incredible games and I think they are the two best players in the NBA but when I break down the two performances against each other, I have to take Lebron in this one.

I will always take a triple double over straight scoring. 61 is a lot, but so is 52. Lebron just did everything else too!