LOS ANGELES, United States —
LeBron James unleashed
his second 50-point performance in a week to spark the Los Angeles Lakers over
Washington 122–109 on Friday but missed a historic NBA milestone.
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James scored 50 points on 18-of-25 shooting, including
6-of-9 from 3-point range, and was 8-of-8 from the free-throw line while
contributing seven rebounds and six assists to power a
Lakers team that had
lost nine of its prior 11 games.
"We missed a lot of chippies, but we kept fighting, we
kept defending, and I was able to hit a hot streak at one point," James
said.
The 37-year-old forward, a four-time
NBA champion and
four-time NBA Most Valuable Player, scored 56 points last Saturday in a home
win over Golden State. James had the first back-to-back 50-or-more Laker totals
at home since the late
Kobe Bryant in 2007.
James was in a "zone" after hitting 17 in the
first half, scoring 12 points in a row for the Lakers at one stage in the third
quarter.
"I just try to stay in that zone as long as
possible," James said. "I was able to hit a couple."
It was the 14th career 50-point game for James, tying him
for sixth on the all-time list.
But James finished two assists shy of becoming the first
player in NBA history with 30,000 career points, 10,000 career rebounds, and
10,000 career assists.
James was pleased to get a hug during the game at one stage
from his mother Gloria.
"The fact she was here tonight was a treat for me,"
James said. "She's my biggest supporter, my biggest inspiration, and my
biggest love."
San Antonio's Gregg Popovich won his NBA record 1,336th
regular-season coaching victory, with Dejounte Murray scoring 27 points to lift
the Spurs over visiting Utah 104–102.
Popovich, 73, has guided the Spurs to five NBA titles and
was coach of the
US Olympic squad of NBA stars that won a gold medal last year
in Tokyo. He thanked former players, coaches, mentors, and those who have
backed the club during his tenure.
"It's just a testament to a whole lot of people.
Something like this does not belong to one individual," Popovich said.
"All of us share in this record. It's not mine. It's ours."
The Spurs made 6-of-8 free throws in the final 14.2 seconds
to hold off the Jazz (41–25). San Antonio improved to 26–41, one game behind
New Orleans for the last play-in spot for the playoffs.
Suns fall, Heat win
Toronto's Gary Trent Jr. scored 42 points and
Pascal Siakam added 25 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds to lead the Raptors to a 117–112
victory at Phoenix, dropping the NBA overall leaders to 53-14 on the season.
Cameron Payne led the Suns with 24 points while
Devin Booker
added 22 for Phoenix, who still lead the Western Conference by 7 1/2 games over
Memphis.
Bam Adebayo scored 30 points and grabbed 17 rebounds while
Jimmy Butler added 24 points to spark the Eastern Conference-leading Miami Heat
over visiting Cleveland 117–105.
The Heat improved to 45–23, stretching Miami's lead in the
East to 2 1/2 games over idle defending champion Milwaukee.
Ja Morant scored 37 points and dished out eight assists to
rally the Memphis Grizzlies from a 15-point second-half deficit to defeat
visiting New York 118–114.
Morant delivered his 24th 30-point game of the season
and scored 15 in the last 12 minutes for his 12th double-digit fourth
quarter of the campaign.
Slovenia's
Luka Doncic had 30 points and 14 rebounds to lead
the Dallas Mavericks to a 113–110 victory at Houston.
Boston's Jayson Tatum had 31 points, eight rebounds and six
assists to spark the Celtics over visiting Detroit 114-103. Jaylen Brown
returned from a right ankle sprain to score 22 points for Boston (41–27).
Trae Young had game highs of 27 points and 11 assists to
spark Atlanta over the visiting
Los Angeles Clippers 112-106.
Miles Bridges scored 26 points and
Terry Rozier added 25 to
lead Charlotte in a 142–120 triumph at New Orleans.
Orlando's Mo Bamba scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds
to spark the Magic over host Minnesota 118–110.
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