Los Angeles - Kobe Bryant lit up the Garden like no other.

Bryant exploded for a modern Madison Square Garden record 61 points on Monday night, carrying the short-handed LA Lakers past the New York Knicks for a 126-117 victory.

"It's a blessing to do what you love and to have moments like this," said Bryant, who reached the 60-point plateau for the fifth time in his illustrious career, including an all-time best 81. "I feel very blessed."

Bryant made 19-of-31 field goals, including three from behind the arc, and all 20 of his free throws in just 36 minutes, to pass Michael Jordan's 55 points in 1995 as the most scored by an opponent at the current 40-year-old Garden.

When Bryant hit his final points on two free throws with 2:33 remaining, he eclipsed New York's Bernard King's mark of 60, set on Christmas Day 1984. For this, he was given a standing ovation by the sold out crowd chanting, "MVP, MVP."

"This place is special; the fans will boo you the whole game, but they appreciate you," Bryant said. "It felt great to get that reaction from these fans, because it's just them saying we love what you do, it's a great performance and to celebrate that at that moment felt great."

Spaniard Pau Gasol had 31 points with 14 rebounds for the Lakers (38-9). Lamar Odom had six points and 14 rebounds in place of starting centre Andrew Bynum, who will be out 8-12 weeks with a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee that could cause him to miss the rest of the regular season, but probably return in time for the playoffs.

Bynum suffered the injury when Bryant bowled him over following an off-balance drive to the basket, early in the first quarter of Saturday's victory at Memphis.

However, the night in the Big Apple belonged to Bryant, who put on an electrifying performance with an assortment of jumpers, drives and an occasional dunk from beginning to end.

"I felt great in the shoot-around, I was just in a good rhythm," he said. "From that point, when you feel that, it's important to stay in there."

Bryant spread his points out evenly, scoring 18 in the opening quarter, and totaled 34 by halftime, carrying the Lakers to a 65-54 advantage. He had a dozen more in the third period, and 15 in the record setting final period.

"Well, this is all about Kobe tonight," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "He came out and was on fire from the start and finished off the game the same way. That was a remarkable performance."

Al Harrington scored 24 points, David Lee had 22 points with 12 rebounds for the Knicks (21-26) who had won three overall and five straight at the Garden before running into Bryant.

"He wouldn't speak to anyone on the court," Lee said. "He was very quiet. You could see what he was attempting to do. It was obvious to us in the second quarter he was going to try to score the basketball tonight."

Elsewhere in the NBA:

San Antonio Spurs 110, Golden State Warriors 105 (OT)

Tim Duncan scored five of his season-high 32 points in overtime and grabbed 15 rebounds before fouling out as the Spurs rallied from a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit for their ninth win in the last 10 games.

Argentine Manu Ginobili also had a season-high 32 points for San Antonio (33-14), while Frenchman Tony Parker finished with 23.

Stephen Jackson topped Golden State (15-34) with a season-best 33 points.

Dallas Mavericks 105, Orlando Magic 95

German wunderkind Dirk Nowitzki scored 29 points, Jason Terry had 23 and the visiting Mavericks rolled to their third straight win.

Dwight Howard had 35 points with 11 rebounds for Orlando (36-11) which lost All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson to a dislocated right shoulder in the third quarter.

Portland Trail Blazers 97, New Orleans Hornets 89

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 22 points, and the visiting Trail Blazers took advantage of an injury to Chris Paul for their fifth straight win.

The Hornets led 72-57 when Paul left the game with a right groin strain. Without their floor leader, they were outscored 42-17 the rest of the way. David West led New Orleans (28-17) with 25 points

Phoenix Suns 129, Sacramento Kings 81

Amare Stoudemire scored 25 points, Jason Richardson had 24 and the Suns snapped a three-game slide by giving the visiting Kings (11-39) a royal thrashing.

Memphis Grizzlies 113, Washington Wizards 97

Rookie O.J. Mayo tied a career high with 33 points, Rudy Gay had 23 and Spaniard Marc Gasol added 22 with 11 boards as the Grizzlies stopped a 12-game losing streak with their first win since January 4.

Miami Heat 119, LA Clippers 95

Dwyane Wade scored 32 points, and the Heat sent the sinking Clippers to their sixth straight loss and 20th in the last 22 contests.

Zach Randolph paced the visiting Clippers (10-38) with 21 points after missing 19 games with a sore left knee.

Utah Jazz 105, Charlotte Bobcats 86

Turkish native Mehmet Okur scored 22 points, Ronnie Brewer added 21 and the injury-depleted Jazz handed the Bobcats their third straight loss.