Kobe Bryant is by far the youngest player to reach the landmark

Bryant scored 20 points in the game to take him past 10,000 career NBA points - and make him the youngest ever player to reach the landmark.

At 24 years and 193 days, Bryant is almost one year younger than previous record-holder Bob McAdoo.

Bryant chose a memorable game to reach the mark, with Robert Horry's last-gasp game-winning jump shot providing a thrilling end to the contest.

Lakers centre Shaquille O'Neal, now third-youngest to achieve the 10,000-point mark feat, was top Los Angeles point scorer with 26.

Elsewhere, Tracy McGrady scored 48 points to lead the Orlando Magic to a 111-99 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in their key Eastern Conference play-off battle.

McGrady added 10 rebounds and five assists to lead the Magic to their seventh win in eight games.

Orlando knocked Milwaukee back into an eighth place tie with Washington in the Eastern Conference.

In his last three games against the Bucks, McGrady has scored 48, 47 and 48 points.

In Washington, Jerry Stackhouse and Larry Hughes both scored 20 points to lead the Wizards past the Los Angeles Clippers 99-80.

Michael Jordan returned one game after suffering back spasms to score 10 points and add nine boards in 25 minutes.

In Boston, Antoine Walker scored 34 points to lead the Celtics to a 97-95 win over the New York Knicks - the Celtics' eighth consecutive win over New York.

Tony Battie blocked the potential game-tying shot by Clarence Weatherspoon in the final seconds, while Paul Pierce added 24 points and eight rebounds for the Celtics.

In Toronto, Yao Ming scored 21 points and added nine rebounds to lead the Houston Rockets past the Toronto Raptors 97-95.

Yao's Toronto appearance brought out more than 50 media members from the city's Asian community and a lot of fans from Toronto's large Chinese community.

He saved his best for last, scoring 13 of his points in the final quarter to lead a Houston comeback.

Wednesday's results:

Boston 97-95 New York
Cleveland 105-111 Atlanta
Orlando 111-99 Milwaukee
Toronto 95-97 Houston
Washington 99-80 LA Clippers
Memphis 96-86 Denver
Phoenix 98-92 Portland
Sacramento 96-95 Minnesota (OT)
Utah 94-83 Seattle
LA Lakers 97-95