LeBron Drops 35, Becomes NBA’s Active Scoring Leader in Loss to Spurs

October 28, 2018 John NBA 0

LeBron James put up a 35-point double-double, made NBA history and nearly singlehandedly rallied the Lakers in the final minute — yet it wasn’t quite enough.

San Antonio held off the Lakers for the second time in six nights, taking a 110-106 victory.

LeBron scored his early season-high with 35 points on 13-of-21 shooting plus 11 rebounds. He was especially dominant inside the arc, scoring eight times at the rim and thrice from mid-range, while even mixing in an off-the-glass pass to himself for the second time this week.

James took his game to another level in the third quarter, when he scored 13 points and climbed two of the NBA’s all-time lists.

With a baseline drive, he passed Shaquille O’Neal for the sixth-most made field goals in a career. Three minutes later, he fired from mid-range to succeed Dirk Nowitzki as the sixth-leading scorer in NBA history, as well as the leader among active players.

“Dirk has always been one of my favorite players, and I think Shaq is the most dominant player to ever play this game,” James said. “For me to be in the same conversation with those guys, in anything we’re talking about as far as basketball, it’s a tribute as far as just being humble and knowing where I come from.

“Being from Akron, Ohio — a small town where most African-American kids don’t make it out of — any time I’m able to do something like that, I give it all back to my hometown and the kids just like me.”

But the Lakers began to sputter once LeBron checked out of the game. A once-14-point lead was cut to one at the end of the third, as San Antonio finished the frame with nine unanswered points.

“We stopped pushing the ball, we got stagnant,” coach Luke Walton said. “They made some good plays, we missed some shots. We just got away from what we’ve done really well so far this season.”

That carried over to the fourth quarter, when the Spurs seized control and led the Lakers by eight with 1:34 remaining.

Still, James had a few tricks left, slashing for a layup, hitting two free throws off a foul drawn on another drive, and finding Josh Hart for a 3-pointer that pulled L.A. back within one with 37 seconds left.

But San Antonio still had DeMar DeRozan, whose trademark mid-range game sparked a dominant night with 30 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

DeRozan isolated on Hart, who did a good job of not biting on multiple pump-fakes. But DeRozan nonetheless cashed a contested look from just inside the free throw line.

James was encouraged by Hart’s fight against the Second Team All-NBA selection.

“We were down one, they had the ball, and DeRozan hit a tough, tough, tough two over Josh,” James said. “We did our job.”

The Lakers played well for most of the game, turning in their best 3-point night yet by hitting 13 treys on a 39.4 percent clip, while San Antonio made only 3-of-16.

But L.A.’s pace wasn’t quite where it wanted to be — despite a 17-2 advantage in fast-break points. Kyle Kuzma had 15 points but on 14 shots, while Lance Stephenson flaunted his jumper with 14 points and nine rebounds.

“You use these experiences for the better,” James said. “I think we played very, very well tonight, besides that four-, five-minute point in the third quarter. We just offensively stalled and defensively weren’t in tune. Other than that, we played some really good basketball all the way down to the last possession.”

Notes
Lonzo Ball (six points, three assists) started at point guard, despite the return of Rajon Rondo (12 points, five assists) from a three-game suspension. … JaVale McGee had nine points (4-of-5), five rebounds and four blocks. … Rudy Gay (16 points, 10 rebounds) and former Laker Pau Gasol (11 points, 12 rebounds) had double-doubles for the Spurs.

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