LeBron James Hits 32,000 Career Points In Heavy Lakers Defeat
6th February 2019
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 24 points for the Pacers, who tied a franchise record with 19 three-pointers.
- LeBron James joined a select group of NBA players to score 32,000 career points but nevertheless endured the most lopsided defeat of his career Tuesday as the Indiana Pacers routed the Los Angeles Lakers 136-94
- James, playing his second game since suffering a groin injury in a Christmas Day win over Golden State, led the Lakers with 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists
- On a night of few Lakers highlights, head coach Luke Walton was pleased to see a driving dunk from the four-time NBA Most Valuable Player
LOS ANGELES, United States- LeBron James joined a select group of NBA players to score 32,000
career points but nevertheless endured the most lopsided defeat of his career
Tuesday as the Indiana Pacers routed the Los Angeles Lakers 136-94.
Bojan Bogdanovic
scored 24 points for the Pacers, who tied a franchise record with 19
three-pointers.
James, playing his
second game since suffering a groin injury in a Christmas Day win over Golden
State, led the Lakers with 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
On a night of few
Lakers highlights, head coach Luke Walton was pleased to see a driving dunk
from the four-time NBA Most Valuable Player.
"It was good to
see LeBron take off and go dunk one and kind of trust his body," Walton
said, although otherwise there was little positive to find in a game that saw
19 Lakers turnovers lead to 33 Pacers points.
"Bottom line,
we have to be better," said Walton, who said he didn't know if some of the
Lakers players had been adversely affected by trade talk swirling around the
team.
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Reports this week
indicated the Lakers had offered as many as six players in a bid to land New
Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis by the Thursday transfer deadline.
Fans in Indianapolis
rubbed in the rumors, yelling "LeBron's going to trade you" at Lakers
guard Brandon Ingram as he went to the free throw line.
"That's just
fans being fans," James said. "If you let that bother you, you're in
the wrong sport."
However, he admitted
that the trade talk could be tough on younger players.
"They’ve just
never been a part of it and they're hearing it every single day," he said.
James, still working
his way back after a 17-game absence, said he felt "alright" if not
100 percent.
"I'm on my way
to being myself again," said James, who connected on seven of 12 shots
from the field and became the fifth player in NBA history to pass 32,000 points
for his career.
That milestone
notwithstanding, James endured the most lopsided defeat of his career, having
twice before lost by 36 points.
The Los Angeles
Clippers rallied in Charlotte, where forward Tobias Harris drained a floater in
the lane with 4.3 seconds remaining to give the Clippers a 117-115 victory over
the Hornets.
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The Clippers had
trailed 88-68 in the third quarter but rallied behind 34 points from Harris and
31 from Lou Williams.
All-Star point guard
Kemba Walker led Charlotte with 32 points and nine assists, but it was Marvin
Williams who took the Hornets' last-gasp attempt -- firing up an air-ball as
time expired.
In Oklahoma City,
Paul George scored a game-high 39 points and Russell Westbrook notched his
seventh straight triple-double -- his 20th of the season -- with 16 points, 15
rebounds and 16 assists as the Thunder downed the Orlando Magic 132-122.
The Toronto Raptors,
chasing the Milwaukee Bucks for first place in the Eastern Conference, overcame
the 76ers 119-107 in Philadelphia.
Joel Embiid scored
14 of his game-high 37 points in the fourth quarter to help the Sixers cut a
21-point deficit to seven points with 3:47 left to play, but Philadelphia would
get no closer.
Kawhi Leonard led
the Raptors with 24 points. Serge Ibaka and Kyle Lowry scored 20 points each --
Lowry returning after missing a game with a sore back.
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Lowry appeared
unaffected by a report that the Raptors had offered him to the Memphis
Grizzlies as part of a trade package for Mike Conley and Marc Gasol.
Amid other reports
suggesting the Grizzlies are poised to ship Gasol to the Hornets the Spanish
center didn't play for Memphis as they hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Conley scored 25
points and handed out nine assists for Memphis and Jaren Jackson added 23 in
the Grizzlies' second straight win.
Karl-Anthony Towns
scored 26 points and pulled down 18 rebounds for the Timberwolves, his two free
throws with 15.7 seconds left knotting the score at 106-106.
Conley then missed a
three-pointer, but Minnesota's Josh Okogie was called for a loose-ball foul on
Justin Holiday who converted two free-throws to seal the win.