Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James had a chance to keep one of the most mind-boggling streaks in sports alive for another game.
James’ Lakers beat the Toronto Raptors 123-120 on Thursday night as Rui Hachimura nailed a corner 3-pointer at the buzzer.
James finished with eight points, ending his streak of scoring at least 10 points in 1,297 consecutive games. The run began Jan. 6, 2007, when James was with the Cleveland Cavaliers. It far surpassed Michael Jordan’s 866-game double-figure streak; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had the third-longest at 787 games.
With the score tied at 120 late, James had the ball in the final seconds. As he backed down his defender — with nearly everyone in Scotiabank Arena expecting him to take the last shot — he passed to Hachimura, who buried the winner.
RELATED STORY | LeBron’s ‘decision of all decisions’ wasn’t about hoops — but it got fans buying tickets fast
James said he had no regrets about the decision.
“We won,” he told reporters.
“Just playing the game the right way. You always make the right play,” James added. “That’s been my M.O. That’s how I was taught the game. I’ve done that my whole career.”
Lakers coach J.J. Redick, who faced James many times during his playing career, said the NBA’s all-time leading scorer knows the game situation as well as anyone.
“LeBron is acutely aware of how many points he has at that point,” Redick said. “He did it like he’s done so many times.”
RELATED STORY | NBA approves sale of Boston Celtics to private equity mogul Bill Chisholm for record $6.1 billion
James, who turns 41 later this month, has seen his scoring dip early this season. After an offseason injury, he has played only six games, topping 20 points once.
In the Lakers’ previous game on Dec. 1, James scored exactly 10 points. He is averaging 14 points so far this season, down from 24.4 last year.
The Lakers haven’t needed his peak scoring to succeed. They own the second-best record in the Western Conference and rank No. 3 in the NBA overall. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are among the league’s top scorers this season, while James has remained an efficient distributor, averaging 7.8 assists and 1.8 turnovers per game.
