WASHINGTON – LeBron James has surpassed Karl Malone on the career scores list, leaving only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar behind.
Then the Los Angeles Lakers wasted another stellar performance of their star.
James came into the night and needed 19 points to connect Malone. He shot twice in the end, but the Washington Wizards pulled off a 16-point deficit to win 127-119 on Saturday night.
James said he could not appreciate the milestone so much in a loss.
“Of course I will be able to look back at some point in the moment, but now is the feeling I have – I can not separate it,” James said. “We had a great opportunity to pick up a little more momentum.”
In addition to James ’38 points, Russell Westbrook scored 22 in his return to Washington, but the Lakers’ small line-ups could not stop 7-foot-3 Kristaps Porzingis, who shot 16 of his 27 points in the final quarter.
Porzingis tied on a 3-pointer with 38 seconds left to put the Wizards on six, and James was unable to answer at the other end. Washington outscored the Lakers 34-20 in the fourth quarter.
The Lakers, who won in Toronto on Friday night in overtime, have not won back-to-back wins since winning four games from Dec. 31 to Jan. 7.
Malone scored 36,928 points. Abdul-Jabbar’s record of 38,387 is reached if James stays healthy.
“I will not allow myself to think about it. I’ve always just played the game the way I’ve played it over the years, and these things just happened organically by just going out and playing the game the right way. , “said James. “Hope to achieve that at some point in my career, but I will not think too much about it.”
After a six-point first quarter, James went on to score a binge in the second, which included a dunk in three 3-pointers. The last of the 3s he also brought with Malone. Then he made a layout of a backdoor cut with 5:20 left in the quarter to advance.
“Every time you have to go up against a guy like LeBron, you’re up for a night out,” said Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. “He can leave at any moment. He had a track there that was pretty amazing. As he plays at the moment, it’s unlikely.
Moments later, as Washington’s Tomas Satoransky was preparing to shoot a free kick, James’ achievement was put on the video screen, and the people of Washington gave him a standing ovation. James recognized Just with a corner of his hand and exchanged a hug with Washington Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a former teammate.
James passes Malone in the same building where Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals moved alongside Jaromir Jagr and is in sole possession of third place on the NHL career list and goals earlier this week.
It was not clear if the 37-year-old James would play on the second night of this rematch until shortly before the match. If he had sat outside, he would have had the chance to reach that milestone in Cleveland, where the Lakers will play next.
“I felt good enough to go,” James said. “The question of not playing was immediately out the door.”
The Wizards slipped into a six-game streak. Washington (30-40) has a better record than the Lakers (30-41), but the Wizards’ postseason hopes fade in the Eastern Conference, while Los Angeles is in solid form to make the play-in round in the West .
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