Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has absolutely no regrets about his 1,297-game double-digit scoring streak coming to an end in Thursday’s game against the Toronto Raptors.
Why? Because the Lakers won.
“None. We won,” James responded when asked about his feelings over his 18-year streak coming to an end in his record-breaking 23rd season.
James, who shot 4-of-17 to finish with eight points, had the opportunity to extend his streak during the final play of the game. With the scores tied at 120 apiece, James had the chance to drive to the rim and possibly draw a foul. Instead, he passed the rock to Rui Hachimura in the left corner, who connected with a three to seal a 123-120 win.
‘Always Make the Right Play’
“Just playing the game the right way. You always make the right play,” James said of his decision to pass the ball to Hachimura, via Spectrum SportsNet. “That’s just been my M.O. That’s how I was taught the game. I’ve done that my whole career.
“There wasn’t even one second of second-guessing that. Once they doubled AR [Austin Reaves], and the ball got swung to me, it was a numbers game, and we had a 4-on-3 advantage. I was just trying to put the ball on time, on target, and in Rui’s shooting pocket, and he knocked it down,” added the four-time NBA champion.
Lakers Teammates Praise LeBron
James has often been criticized during his career for passing up big shots in the clutch, something that the likes of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant rarely ever did. As such, it was somewhat poetic that James’ scoring streak ended in the “right basketball play” even though it robbed him of the longest double-digit scoring streak in NBA lore.
Austin Reaves, who finished with a game-high 44 points, had choice words for LeBron’s critics.
“You tip your hat to a guy that just cares about winning and making the right play, that’s what he’s done his whole career,” Reaves said of James.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick echoed Reaves’ sentiments.
“LeBron is acutely aware of how many points he has at that point,” Redick said. “He did it like he’s done so many times…. The basketball gods, if you do it the right way, they tend to reward you.”
LeBron James Scoring Streak
“He’s such an unselfish player,” Jake LaRavia said of James. “He’s just playing the game of basketball. He had the opportunity but because of the player he is and just who he is as a person, he made the unselfish play, passed it to Rui and we won the game.”
LeBron James’ scoring streak of 1,297 consecutive double-digit scoring games began on Jan. 6, 2007, when he scored 19 points for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Before Thursday’s game, the last time he didn’t score in double-digits was against the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 5, 2007, when he finished with eight points (3-of-13 shooting) and nine assists.
Michael Jordan previously held the record, scoring in double digits for 866 games between March 25, 1986 and Dec. 26, 2001. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the only other player to score in double-digits for 700+ consecutive games, doing so between Dec. 4, 1977 and Dec. 2, 1987.
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