The Los Angeles Lakers (29-37) snapped a two-game skid with a win over the Washington Wizards (29-36) Friday night at Crypto.com Arena as LeBron James recorded his 14th career 50-burger.
James, 37, is now the first player in NBA history with multiple 50-point games after turning 35 years of age. He is also closing in on becoming the only player ever to reach at least 30,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists.
James, who went 1-for-9 from beyond the arc in Wednesday’s overtime loss to the Houston Rockets, opened his scoring night against Washington with a 3-pointer. He ended the game 6-of-9 from deep this time, shooting an overall 18-of-25 from the field to go with seven rebounds and six assists.
LeBron James is two assists shy of 10,000
The King’s six dimes put him two assists shy of reaching 10,000 in his career. He had one block in 36 minutes on the floor and shot a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line on a night that also saw Russell Westbrook make a bit of history, becoming the 11th player with most assists in NBA history.
Westbrook went 2-of-11 from the floor for five points, but made up for his poor shooting with nine assists in 31 minutes of action. He was not on the court down the stretch, leaving the offensive responsibility to Malik Monk, Austin Reaves and Talen Horton-Tucker.
Monk contributed with 21 points, THT got 15 in 30 minutes off the bench, and Reaves added 12. Lakers were outrebounded by 10 as a team on both ends of the floor, getting exposed for the squad’s lack of size.
Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope return to Los Angeles
Kyle Kuzma led his side in scoring with 23 points as he and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope returned to Los Angeles for the first time since getting traded to Washington. KCP was only able to score four points on 1-of-6 shooting, with Corey Kispert and Rui Hachimura taking the reigns on offense with a respective 21 and 15 points.
Kristaps Porzingis got a 14-point double-double with 14 rebounds for the Wizards, and Tomas Satoransky got 14 points off the bench. The score was tied after one quarter and Washington led by as many as nine points in the second, but James took over in the last two frames to secure his side’s victory.
Lakers will look to start a win streak Sunday as they visit the league-leading Phoenix Suns. Wizards will play the tail-end of their back-to-back Saturday at Portalnd Trail Blazers.
