LeBron James became only the second player in NBA history to score more than 38,000 career points on Sunday but his Los Angeles Lakers suffered a third straight loss with a 113-112 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. James is now second on the NBA’s all-time career scoring list behind fellow Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record 38,387 points and is expected to surpass that total in the coming weeks. James had 35 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Lakers, who passed the 38,000-mark in the first quarter, and his achievement was recognized by the spectators and players.
But after the loss to the Lakers, James was in no mood to reflect on his personal milestone as Joel Embiid had 35 points and 11 rebounds for the 76ers.
Asked if he had thoughts on the achievement, he simply replied in the negative and chose to reflect on his team’s disappointing form.
“It’s disappointing not to get into this position and come away with a win,” James said.
Russell Westbrook missed the final seconds of the game for the Lakers.
“We got a stop, gave ourselves a chance to win the game and didn’t,” he said.
Nikola Vucevic produced a 43-point masterpiece as the Chicago Bulls defeated the NBA champion Golden State Warriors 132-118 on Sunday.
Montenegrin star Vucevic notched his ninth straight double-double to help the Bulls snap a three-game losing streak at the United Center in Chicago in the absence of the injured DeMar DeRozan.
Vucevic’s performance was the centerpiece of a balanced all-around offensive display by Chicago, who saw six players finish with double-digit points.
Zach LaVine added 27 points while Alex Caruso and Ayo Dosunmu scored 12 points apiece. Kobe White added 15 off the bench.
“I’m going really early,” Vucevic said after going 18-for-31 from the field with five three-pointers. “It’s hard to explain. You just get this feeling in yourself that it’s going to be your night and you just play.
“We really moved the ball. We played really aggressively offensively and I was able to get to my spots.”
The win was the perfect tonic for the Bulls (20-24) as they now head to Paris for a regular season game next Thursday against the Detroit Pistons.
Alarm bell
But the loss was another wake-up call for the struggling Warriors, who are the reigning NBA champions in eighth place in the Western Conference standings with a 21-22 record.
Klay Thompson led Golden State scoring with 26 points but the Warriors were left to make 23 turnovers count.
“We’re having trouble making good decisions on good decisions,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
“You can make all kinds of excuses but it doesn’t matter,” Kerr added. “Everybody’s got excuses, everybody’s got injuries with guys in and out of the rotation. We’ve got to do better.”
The Western Conference-leading Denver Nuggets beat the Orlando Magic 119-116 after Nikola Jokic hit the decisive three-pointer with 1.2 seconds left.
Jokic recorded his 12th triple double of the season with 17 points, ten rebounds and 14 assists.
Julius Randle scored a season-high 42 points as the New York Knicks beat Detroit 117-104 for their third straight win.
Randle also hauled in 15 rebounds while teammate Jalen Brunson finished with 27 points in a comfortable win for the Knicks, who are sixth in the Eastern Conference standings.
Damian Lillard scored 40 points for the Portland Trail Blazers as they beat the Dallas Mavericks 140-123. Mavericks’ Slovenian star Luka Doncic was rested for the game.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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