NEW YORK — I saw it. An eerie smile, an almost ghostly flicker of recognition, crossed Phil Jackson's face near the end of the second quarter of Kobe Bryant's incredible run last night at Madison Square Garden.

Bryant had just scored his 31st point, an effortless-looking dunk of a Lamar Odom feed, when it suddenly seemed to occur to Jackson and nearly everyone else that this could be a night for the history books.

Fourteen years ago, a sprier, less gray Jackson was the opposing coach when Michael Jordan set an opponent's record at the new Garden by scoring 55 points in only his fifth game back from retirement. In last night's 126-117 Lakers win, Jackson got to see Bryant do even better as he poured in 61 points to set the all-time scoring mark at the arena that opened Feb. 14, 1968.

"You knew in the first five minutes of this game that it was going to be all about Kobe," Jackson said. "He was on fire from the start. And he finished the same way."

Sixty-one points in 36 minutes, 48 seconds. Bryant hit 19 of 31 shots, including three three-pointers. He also made all 20 of his free throws, including the one with 2:33 left that gave him 61 points and broke former Knick Bernard King's 24-year-old record.

"He takes your breath away," said Odom, who grew up in Queens watching the Knicks. "It was great being on the court with him."

And it was great being in the stands watching him. Even the most hard-core Knicks fans, the ones who seemed annoyed earlier in the game when a contingent of fans in Bryant jerseys began chanting "MVP," got swept up in the moment.

Not only did fans give Bryant a standing ovation, but many of them refused to leave after it was over. The postgame arena was a sea of flashes and cell phones as fans took pictures of the scoreboard to document that they had been part of history.

For his part, Bryant said after the game that he was unaware of the record, that though he remembered Jordan's game, he did not know that it had set a record at the Garden. Whether you choose to believe that is up to you, but you have to believe that with this performance, Bryant has started to make the constant comparisons with Jordan sound a little less hyperbolic.

This was a statement game, though not the sort most Knicks fans thought they were going to see when they took their seats. The Knicks entered the game playing their best basketball in seasons, and were hoping that a good showing against one of the league's elite would signal that they are legitimate playoff contenders. Instead, the only statement made last night was by Bryant. And it was this: If you don't vote for me for MVP, you are a fool.

What the performance also showed was just how exciting it is to watch an incredible talent work his magic at the Garden, even if that talent is playing for another team. The Knicks, sans a superstar, are continuing to get better and better. But they still can't drive the fans to the same crazy heights of ecstasy that a player such as Bryant or LeBron James, who comes into the Garden tomorrow, can.

"We're still not there yet," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said after the game.

Almost every player on the Lakers said there was something almost magical about the night. Many cited how Bryant, who had just heard the news that teammate Andrew Bynum would be out for more than a month, was strangely focused, almost serene as he entered the arena. Jackson, who won a title at the Garden as a player, came in talking about how nice it was to be in a place that had his picture on the wall.

Maybe someday there will be something commemorating this night at the Garden. The Knicks, after all, have a floor plaque on their walk of fame commemorating Jordan's 55-pointer.