LeBron James sacrifices scoring record to give victory to Lakers against Raptors
James passed to Hachimura with only seconds left on the clock to give the Lakers a three-point victory
The Lakers defeated the Toronto Raptors 123-120 with a buzzer-beater in a game where LeBron James sacrificed his streak of most games with 10 points to provide the assist for the game-winning shot.
The team won its fourth game in the last five and is in second place in the Western Conference, only behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, the reigning NBA champions.
LeBron James' streak of 1,297 consecutive games with double-digit points was snapped. This streak is the longest in history and began on June 6, 2007.
With the game tied 120-120, James received the ball on the final possession of the game and when he drove to the perimeter, he didn't take the shot and instead passed to Rui Hachimura. The Japanese player received the ball wide open and sank a three-pointer to secure the victory against Toronto.
LeBron James downplays the record-breaking 10-point streak
After the victory, James responded to the media, suggesting that the streak wasn't important, but rather winning against the Raptors.
“Just play well. Always make the right play,” James said. “That’s been my modus operandi. That’s how I was taught the game. I’ve done it my whole career.”
James’ streak began on January 6, 2007, and lasted almost two decades. It was by far the longest in NBA history.
Michael Jordan had 866 consecutive games with more than ten points, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was third with 787, and Karl Malone had the fourth longest streak with 575.
JJ Redick, the Lakers coach, acknowledged that James made the right move and the basketball “gods” rewarded him.
“LeBron is very aware of how many points he has at that moment,” said Lakers coach JJ Redick. “He did it like he has so many times before… The basketball gods, if you do it right, they usually reward you.”

