LeBron James has officially broken Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s long-standing record for regular-season minutes played in the NBA. In a decisive game on Thursday night, he contributed 19 points, six rebounds, and seven assists, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 113-100 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
James logged 34 minutes on the court, bringing his career total to 57,471 minutes, surpassing Abdul-Jabbar’s previous record of 57,446 minutes. This milestone adds another remarkable achievement to James’s illustrious career.
Anthony Davis made a significant impact as well, scoring 21 points and grabbing 20 rebounds. Austin Reaves shone brightly with 35 points, while D’Angelo Russell contributed 16 points, helping the Lakers improve their record to 15-12, marking their third win in the last four games.
The Kings struggled for much of the game but managed to narrow the gap to 93-90 after De’Aaron Fox’s jumper with eight minutes left. However, a quick response from Reaves with a bank shot and two free throws from Davis ignited a 10-2 run that allowed the Lakers to pull away decisively.
For the Kings, Fox led the way with 26 points, five assists, and three steals. Domantas Sabonis contributed 18 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists, while Malik Monk added 17 points to the effort.
Takeaways
Lakers: Davis took a hard fall in the fourth quarter, causing concern as he limped heavily after the incident. Despite dealing with left plantar fasciitis, he remained in the game and made a crucial defensive play shortly after.
Kings: Once again, a slow start plagued Mike Brown’s team. Sacramento fell behind by 14 points early, managed to take a brief lead in the second quarter, but spent the entire fourth quarter trying to catch up.
Key moment
The turning point came when Fox picked up his fifth foul with 6:47 remaining in the second half, forcing him to sit on the bench. This limited his playing time significantly, as he only managed to participate for 11 minutes after that.
Key stat
Just three days after allowing 76 points in the paint against the Denver Nuggets, the Kings improved their defense, restricting the Lakers to 44 points in the key.
Up next
The two teams will meet again for the second game of their set in Sacramento on Saturday.
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