LeBron James was aware his monumental streak of putting up 10+ points was threatened. In that crucial moment, however, it didn't concern him.
The correct basketball play was to pass the ball – and he executed. With that selfless act, the unprecedented record was over.
LeBron's staggering streak of over 1,200 straight regular-season double-digit scoring performances was snapped during a recent game, as basketball's greatest scorer had only eight points during the Los Angeles Lakers' 123-120 win against Toronto. He delivered the clutch helper, feeding Rui Hachimura to hit a triple to win the game.
“Zero,” James stated when asked about the streak ending. “The team got the victory.”
LeBron had the chance to tried to secure the game – and preserved the streak – with the last shot, but he chose to pass to Rui in the left corner. Hachimura made the shot, and James celebrated triumphantly.
You have to play the game correctly. Always make the right play,” James noted. That is my M.O.. That is the way I learned the game. That's what I've done for two decades.”
He is acutely aware exactly how many points he's scored at any point,” said Lakers coach JJ Redick. He made the play like he’s done countless times.”
He returned to the game one last time at under five and a half minutes to go, the win and his personal record both hanging in the balance. He had only six points from 3-of-15 shooting then.
He scored at under two minutes remaining to level the contest but then missed a mid-range jumper at one minute to go that might have taken him to ten points.
He passed up one more attempt – but could have. A teammate found him in the waning seconds, however, James chose to make the extra pass instead of shooting.
The spirits of the game, if you approach it the proper way, they tend to reward you,” the coach concluded.
James's streak started back in January 2007. It was easily the most extended such streak in NBA history: MJ previously held a streak of 866 straight games with 10+ points, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 787, and Karl Malone recorded at 575.
“He’s such a team-oriented player,” said Lakers center a fellow Laker.
“He’s just playing hoops. He could have shot but given who he is on the court and his character as an individual, he chose the pass, found Rui and secured the game.”
Getting to ten points had long been a guarantee well before the start of fourth quarters. Over the course of the record, he had reached ten points entering the fourth over twelve hundred times coming into the contest.
But two of those unusual single-digit games through three quarters took place recently: He recorded nine points entering the final quarter versus the Mavericks last week, and then had six points before the fourth quarter versus the Suns earlier in the week.
He succeeded in extend the streak in the Phoenix game. In the following contest, it finished – yet he was celebrating all the same.
My focus is to make the right play. That’s automatic, regardless of outcome,” James declared. If you make the right play, the sports deities consistently rewarding me.”
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