LeBron James broke the 43,000-point barrier in the NBA in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ loss to the Boston Celtics, on a night when the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped the Cavaliers’ seven-game winning streak and Tyrese Maxey reactivated the 76ers with 39 points.
Maxey’s big night ended the Sixers’ four-game losing streak as they triumphed 135-108 at the Minnesota Timberwolves, led by Anthony Edwards’ 28 points.
The Sixers were also able to rely on 24 points from rookie VJ Edgecombe, on a night when Joel Embiid was sidelined for the fifth consecutive game with knee discomfort.
LeBron surpasses 43,000 points
James is the all-time leading scorer in NBA history with 43,008 points after the 20 he scored on Sunday against the Celtics. The second, another Lakers legend, is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 38,387 points, almost 5,000 less.
Abdul-Jabbar witnessed LeBron’s feat live, as he went to the arena to participate in the tribute to Pat Riley, who won four rings as coach of the Lakers (1982, 1985, 1987, 1988) and another as a player (1972).
As part of the tribute, the Lakers unveiled a nearly 2.5-meter, 230-kilogram bronze statue of Riley outside the arena.
But it was the Celtics who celebrated at Crypto.com Arena. Jaylen Brown had 32 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while Payton Pritchard, who crushed the Lakers with three-pointers, had 30 points and eight assists.
Spanish rookie Hugo Gonzalez contributed four points and three rebounds for the Celtics.
OKC takes down the Cavs
The Thunder, without Shai Gilgeous Alexander or Jalen Williams, defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 121-113, who had been undefeated since the arrival of James Harden to the team.
Gilgeous-Alexander is out with an abdominal strain, while Williams has a right hamstring injury. The Thunder were also without Alex Caruso (sprained left ankle) and Ajay Mitchell, with the same injury as SGA.
Isaiah Joe was the Thunder’s leading scorer with 22 points, while Cason Wallace (20 points and 10 assists) and Chet Holmgren (17 points and 15 rebounds) both recorded double-doubles.
For the Cavaliers, Harden, Donovan Mitchell and Sam Merrill finished with 20 points each.
The Thunder lead the West with a 44-14 record, three games clear of their pursuers, the San Antonio Spurs and Victor Wembanyama.
Knicks beat struggling Bulls
In the East, the Detroit Pistons (42-13) are in command, chased by the Celtics and the New York Knicks, who won 105-99 at the home of a Chicago Bulls team in crisis, with nine consecutive defeats.
Karl Anthony Towns made 10 of his 17 field goal attempts and hit five three-pointers for 28 points. He also added 11 rebounds, two assists and three steals in 32:13 minutes on the court at the United Center.
The Knicks were also able to count on 19 points, five rebounds and nine assists from Jalen Brunson and 16 points from Landry Shamet
In the game, Josh Hart (11 points and nine rebounds) pretended to shoot Guerschon Yabusele in the face.
The former Real Madrid player finished the game with 11 points and 13 rebounds in 30 minutes as a starter for the Bulls.
Al Horford stops Jokic
Al Horford scored 22 points in the Golden State Warriors’ 128-117 victory over the Denver Nuggets, who wasted a triple-double of 35 points, 20 rebounds and 12 assists from Serbian Nikola Jokic.
The Nuggets have been up and down and lost three of their last four games, leaving them in fourth place in the West (36-22). The Warriors, who are still waiting for Steph Curry to recover from a knee problem, are eighth (30-27) in the same conference.
Currently out of the postseason places are the Mavericks, who visited the Indiana Pacers’ court with a 10-game losing streak.
Jason Kidd’s team snapped that losing streak with a hard-fought 134-130 win, led by Khris Middleton (29 points) and PJ Washington (22 points).
Among the other results, the Toronto Raptors dominated the Milwaukee Bucks without Giannis Antetokounmpo (122-94) and the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Brooklyn Nets 115-104.
The Nets are second to last in the East (15-41) and have lost four straight games. Only the Indiana Pacers (15-43) have worse numbers
Read the full article here
