Bradley Beal First Player Since Kobe With Back-to-Back 50-Point Games

Hours after the memorial service which paid tribute to Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, Wizards guard Bradley Beal honored the late-Lakers star with another stellar on-court performance. 

Beal became the first player since Bryant in March of 2007 to record 50 points in two-consecutive contests. Beal scored a career-high 55 on Monday night in his team's 137-134 loss to the Bucks. Over the weekend, he scored 53 points in a loss to the Chicago Bulls. 

In doing so, Beal also became the first Wizards player in franchise history to score 50 points in consecutive games. 

The Wizards star's season is similar in some ways to Bryant's in 2006–07, a season in which No. 24 scored 50 or more points in four consecutive games. That season was one of the Lakers' worst in the 20 years that Bryant played for the franchise. They won only 42 games and lost in five games in the first round of the playoffs.

After Monday's three-point loss, Beal's Wizards (20-36) sit just 4.5 games out of the No. 8 in the Eastern Conference, with an outside chance to sneak into the bottom of the playoff bracket.

The Florida product was almost among the notable All-Star Game snubs this year despite averaging 29.6 points per game.