LeBron James is getting closer.
The Los Angeles Lakers star competed on Tuesday and needed 224 points to surpass Kareem-Abdul Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. He’s that much closer after a 46-point effort in a 133-115 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Even in a losing effort, James gave fans their value. In addition to that scoring effort, he had eight rebounds, seven assists, two steals, one block, zero turnover and zero personal fouls in 32 minutes. He shot 9 of 14 from deep, a career-high at 3-pointers scored in a single game.
The end result wasn’t close, but James led a run in the fourth quarter to reduce the deficit to 10 before the Clippers regained control.
Breaking 40 points against the Clippers also completed James’ streak of 40-point games against all 30 NBA teams, an unprecedented feat. Three more players scored 40 against 29 teams: Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kobe Bryant who never played against the Lakers.
It’s only a matter of time before LeBron James breaks the NBA scoring record
James does not pursue the record in the late stages of his distinguished career. Far from it. His 29.8 point scoring average in 37 games would be the fourth-highest scoring average of his 20 NBA seasons.
James averaged 20.9 points per game as a rookie and hasn’t dropped below that pace since. He’s on schedule to break Abdul-Jabbar’s record in 100+ games fewer than his fellow Lakers greats. Abdul-Jabbar’s tally was 38,387 points in 1,560 games. Tuesday’s Lakers game against the Clippers was the 1404th of James’ career.
The pace has James on his way to overtaking Abdul-Jabbar sometime in February. Here’s the upcoming Lakers game list as James tracks one of the recent major milestones in his basketball career.
Wednesday: vs. San Antonio Spurs, 10:30 p.m. ET
Saturday: at Boston Celtics, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
January 30th: at Brooklyn Nets, 7:30 p.m. ET (NBA TV)
31 January: at New York Knicks, 7:30 p.m. ET (TNT)
The story goes on
February 2: at Indiana Pacers, 7 p.m. ET
February 4: at New Orleans Pelicans, 8 p.m. ET
February 7: vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 10:30 p.m. ET
February 9: vs. Milwaukee Bucks, 10 p.m. ET (TNT)
February 11: at Golden State Warriors, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
13th February: at Portland Trail Blazers, 10 p.m. ET
February 15: vs. New Orleans Pelicans, 10 p.m. ET (ESPN)