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On March 27, 2004, the New Jersey Nets allowed a teenaged LeBron James to score a then-career high 41 points on them in a game his Cleveland Cavaliers won by three. The Nets were obviously disappointed with that defeat and the performance that led to it, but they can now take some measure of solace in the fact that James, 19 years later, has now done that against every single team in the NBA.
On Tuesday, James dropped 46 points on the Los Angeles Clippers, who were the final team on his 40-point bucket list. He has now scored at least 40 against all 30 NBA teams, including the three that he himself has played for. It was fitting to see the performance come against the Clippers, as they had held James to just 24.1 points per game in his career, which was tied for the lowest mark of any team. That honor now belongs to the Detroit Pistons alone thanks to Tuesday’s explosion.
James is well on his way to a number of scoring landmarks. He is obviously on track to become the league’s all-time leading scorer by passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the very near future. The 46 points he scored on Tuesday also took him beyond 30 points per game for the season. He’s now at roughly 30.2, just off of last season’s 30.3 and within striking distance of his career high of 31.4. It goes without saying that James is the highest-scoring 38-year-old in NBA history, but since his birthday in December, he’s now up to a league-best 36.1 points per game.
The first 40-point game of LeBron’s career was so long ago that the team it came against no longer plays in the state that it once represented. It’s been almost two decades now and he can still hang 40 on any opponent who gets in his way. The majority of NBA players are thrilled to reach 40 points just once in their career. The event is so casual to James at this…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/lebron-james-becomes-first-player-in-nba-history-to-score-40-points-against-every-team/
Author : Sam Quinn
Publish date : 2023-01-25 06:43:16
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