During the Thursday night NBA slate, LeBron James simply put his head down and drove to the basket repeatedly. As he is poised to become the NBA’s new career scoring champion, he applied the same late-game philosophy he used to win four NBA championships. In a 112-111 victory over the Indiana Pacers, James finished with 26 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to another frantic fourth-quarter rally.
As of now, he is 63 points away from breaking Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s career record of 38,387.
“I just understood my game was needed more on the interior tonight,” James said. “Needed to get some rebounds, need to get some baskets in there, and I felt like we were attacking, especially in the fourth quarter.”
Although the Lakers trailed for the entirety of the first three quarters, usually by double digits, James looked relaxed.
NBA SCORES & NEWS: LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers & Indiana Pacers Updates
With 2:35 left in the game, James hit a 3-pointer to lead Los Angeles to its first lead of the game. A short jumper and subsequent block by Anthony Davis with 35.1 seconds left proved decisive on a night when he had 31 points and 14 rebounds.
“I think it’s one of the greatest records in sports, in general,” James said. “It’s like the home run record in baseball. It’s one of those records that you don’t ever see or think will be broken. You see guys like Hank Aaron, who had it for so long. You see guys like Sammy (Sosa) and Mark McGwire and you start climbing it and it’s like ‘Oh, this could really happen.’ It’s a fun thing as a sports person. It was fun watching those guys chasing it.”
Despite Aaron Nesmith scoring a career-high 24 points and Tyrese Haliburton adding 26 points and 12 assists in his first game in three weeks, Myles Turner scored 20 points and 13 rebounds after signing a contract extension for two years, Buddy Hield missed a 17-footer at the end of the game.
NBA SCORES & NEWS: LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers & Indiana Pacers Updates
It was Indiana’s fourth straight loss, and longtime coach Rick Carlisle was bewildered by it. As the fourth quarter began, Indiana still led 98-84, relying on pace and speed. In the final quarter, the Lakers made 16 free throws, while Indiana made zero.
“The foul discrepancy and free-throw discrepancy is something I’ve never seen in my 38 years in the league,” Carlisle said. “There was a lot going on out there, and they’ll see it in black and white in New York. Or actually, they’ll see it in HD.”
