LOS ANGELES – LeBron James claimed another piece of National Basketball Association (NBA) history on Nov 21, becoming the first player to break the 39,000-point barrier as the Los Angeles Lakers routed the Utah Jazz to reach the knockout stage of the league’s new in-season tournament.
The 38-year-old, needing just five points to reach the milestone heading into the game, etched his name into the record books with a three-pointer in the first quarter of Lakers’ 131-99 win.
The star forward, who passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar last season to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, saluted the crowd as his achievement was announced.
“I got congratulated by my teammates and coaches, but I haven’t really had an opportunity to wrap my head around what it means,” James, who finished with 17 points from six-of-10 shooting for a 39,012 total, said of his latest scoring milestone.
“There have been so many great players in this league since the beginning of time, and so many great scorers.
“To be able to be the first of anything is always pretty cool. A wild moment, for sure.”
However, he will not be celebrating his latest feat with the game ball in his trophy case, as his coach Darvin Ham jokingly refused to hand it to him.
“We should all be appreciative of what we’re witnessing. It’s only 39,000 though, not 40, so he didn’t get the game ball tonight,” Ham said, according to website Lakers Nation.
Assuming he is healthy and fit, James is expected to hit the 40,000 mark around the NBA’s All-Star break in February. He is still playing at an elite level in his 21st season, averaging 25.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game.
Ham’s joke aside, James’ landmark set the mood for a celebratory occasion at the Crypto.com Arena as the Lakers went on to score a wire-to-wire win and reach the in-season tournament’s quarter-finals.
Anthony Davis led the Los Angeles scorers with 26 points, 16 rebounds and four assists.
“We’re one step closer to winning the, uh, Cup? Is it the tournament Cup? NBA Cup? Something like that? So, we are one step closer,” Davis said.
The Lakers shot 57 per cent from the field and their bench took advantage of the blowout to score 64 points, led by Austin Reaves with 19 and Christian Wood with 16.
Omer Yurtseven scored 18 points off the bench and John Collins led the starters with 15 points for Utah, who fell to 2-2 in group play.
“I think our lack of physicality, in particular on offence, led us to have very sloppy offensive possessions,” Utah coach Will Hardy said, as quoted by ESPN.
“And when you couple that with not making really any shots... playing against that team in transition over and over and over again is difficult. It was a lot of things wrapped into one that led to a bad game.”
Elsewhere, Kevin Durant also passed a scoring milestone, moving up to 11th place on the NBA’s career scoring list in the Phoenix Suns’ 120-107 drubbing of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Durant needed 14 points to overtake Elvin Hayes on the scoring charts, and duly knocked them down in a free-scoring first quarter. He finished with 31 points to lead the Phoenix scoring, taking his career tally to 27,331 points.
“Being among the all-time greats, the guys who set the standard and made the NBA what it is today is an honour,” Durant said. “It’s pretty cool and I just got to keep going.”
The 35-year-old also received praise from Frank Vogel.
“Incredible,” the Suns coach said. “He’s one of the best to ever do it. And he’s not slowing down.”
Portland coach Chauncey Billups, meanwhile, believes that Phoenix have what it takes to win the NBA title this term.
“That is just an elite team that will be contending for a championship this year,” he said. AFP
