LeBron James is on his way to Philadelphia, set to pass Kobe Bryant on the NBA’s career scoring list in the former Lakers star’s hometown.
It will be another milestone achievement, but scoring has never been the most important thing to James. He prefers winning, and it looks like he will do plenty more of that with the Lakers.
James on Thursday had 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in his 10th triple-double of the season as Los Angeles made a season-high 19 three-pointers to pull away and beat the Brooklyn Nets 128-113.
Photo: AP
James closed within 17 points of Bryant for No. 3 with a flurry in the fourth quarter. He can pass Bryant today in Philadelphia, where the five-time champion was born.
“Any time I am linked with the greats or I am able to do something in my career where I’m mentioned with the greats is a pretty cool thing, but as far as looking at the scoring, I don’t know. That doesn’t mean much to me,” James said. “Just the overall point of my game is what means more to me — being an all-around player, being able to be successful on the floor and being able to contribute to the franchises that I played for, the three franchises I played for so far in my career.”
James has 33,626 points. Bryant finished with 33,643.
A back-and-forth game for nearly three quarters turned into a rout after the Lakers broke the Nets’ spirit with four straight three-pointers spanning the third and fourth quarters, extending a one-point lead to 107-94, and Los Angeles coasted from there.
Anthony Davis had 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Dwight Howard finished with 14 points and 12 boards in his first start of the season.
Kyrie Irving scored 20 points after missing a game with a tight hamstring, but the Nets lost their fifth straight. Brooklyn have won just two of their past 14 games.
The Nets were without backup centers DeAndre Jordan and Nicolas Claxton, leaving them without many options behind starter Jarrett Allen, but they struggled just as badly guarding the perimeter.
Los Angeles were 19 of 38 behind the arc, with Nets coach Kenny Atkinson saying his players were so worried about James that they left guys open outside.
“He started making shots and guys are just, they don’t want to see him score again and they help too much,” Atkinson said. “I would say there’s 10, 12 plays where we helped too much and you make one false step with a great passing team like them, they make you pay.”
The Lakers led 38-35 after the first quarter, before both teams made seven three-pointers in the second.
Howard went four of four for eight points in the period, helping the Lakers take a 75-70 lead to halftime.
Danny Green made three three-pointers in the first four minutes of the third quarter, pushing the lead to 88-75, but the Nets had it down to 95-94 after a three by Irving with 49 seconds remaining.
Then Davis and Rajon Rondo hit threes before Jared Dudley, who played in Brooklyn last season, hit one from near the Nets’ bench to beat the buzzer and make it 104-94.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope made it four straight threes to open the fourth quarter, extending the lead to 13. James then scored eight in the period before taking a seat for good.
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