LeBron James passes Karl Malone but Lakers lose in Washington

Published on : 20/03/2022 – 09:02Modified : 20/03/2022 – 09:00

Los Angeles (AFP) – LeBron James took 2nd place in the ranking of the best scorers in NBA history in the regular season, but he might not prevent the Los Angeles Lakers from losing Saturday on the floor of the Washington Wizards (127-119) .

With 38 points and 10 rebounds in the Capital One Arena, James improved his stats even further. He is now at 36,947 points in the regular season, ahead of Karl Malone (36,928) and behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387).

“It’s an honor for me, my friends and my family to live these moments, and for all the people who share my adventure”, reacted James, very happy to be part of the NBA and “to have a connection with some of the greatest players in the sport, who I have watched and who have inspired me”.

Still, the Wizards still won, following a six-game losing streak. Thanks to a smoothly led fourth quarter: 34-20 to seal a victory that seemed rather unlikely when they were trailing by 16 points.

Of those 34 points down the stretch, Kristaps Porzingis scored 16, finishing with a total of 27 points. Something to spoil James’s party a bit, even if Lakers coach Frank Vogel wanted to “share things” and salute the historic performance of his star player.

Towns continue

In Saturday’s other matches, Karl-Anthony Towns continued to rack up the points, like LeBron James, but he only passed 25 in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, the champions in title diminished by the absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo (138-119).

The 26-year-old Towns’ points average fell just below 40 for this week which began with a flurry of 60 points on Monday. He also had 11 rebounds and five assists at Target Center.

This is the 4th victory in a row for the Timberwolves, more than ever in the race for the playoffs because 7th in the Western Conference, tied for victories (42) with Denver (6th).

In Charlotte, another big individual performance, that of Luka Doncic (37 points) might not prevent the Dallas Mavericks from being beaten soundly by the Hornets (129-108), thanks in particular to 23 points from Miles Bridges .

© 2022 AFP