In a stunning end to one of professional sport's most remarkable records, LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers saw his 18-year scoring streak snapped on Thursday night. The NBA's all-time leading points scorer was held to just eight points in a 123-120 victory over the Toronto Raptors, bringing his run of 1,297 consecutive regular-season games with double-digit points to a close.
The Streak Ends With a Selfless Play
The historic sequence, which began on 6 January 2007, was by far the longest in league history, dwarfing Michael Jordan's 866-game streak. It finally concluded not with a missed shot, but with a deliberate, game-winning pass. With the scores level and seconds remaining, James received the ball from team-mate Austin Reaves. Rather than force a shot to extend his personal record, he made the unselfish play, finding Rui Hachimura open in the left corner for a clutch three-pointer as time expired.
"Just playing the game the right way. You always make the right play," James stated after the game. "That's just been my M.O. That's how I was taught the game. I've done that my whole career." His coach, JJ Redick, confirmed James was fully aware of the situation, saying, "LeBron is acutely aware of how many points he has at that point. He did it like he's done so many times."
A Record Run That Defined an Era
The consistency of James's scoring prowess was almost taken for granted. Entering Thursday's contest, he had reached 10 points by the start of the fourth quarter in 1,266 of those 1,297 games. However, the streak had shown signs of vulnerability recently. He had nine points going into the final period against Dallas on 28 November and just six before the fourth quarter against Phoenix earlier this week, a game where he managed to salvage the record.
Against the Raptors, he checked back in with 5:23 remaining, having scored only six points on inefficient 3-of-15 shooting. A basket with 1:46 left tied the game, but a missed 14-footer with a minute to go kept him stuck on eight points. The final opportunity to reach double figures was the pass he opted not to take.
Team Triumph Over Personal Glory
The overriding sentiment in the Lakers' camp was one of collective victory. When asked about his thoughts on the streak ending, James simply replied, "None. We won." Team-mate Jake LaRavia praised the four-time champion's character, saying, "He's such an unselfish player... he made the unselfish play, passed it to Rui and we won the game."
Coach Redick summed up the philosophy that guided James's decisive moment, noting, "The basketball gods, if you do it the right way, they tend to reward you." James echoed this, affirming, "I always just make the right play. That's automatic, win, lose or draw. You make the right play, the game gods are always giving back to me."
While the extraordinary streak that outlasted the careers of legends like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (787 games) and Karl Malone (575 games) is now over, James's legacy of team-first play was emphatically reinforced on a night where a historic personal record was sacrificed for a crucial team win.
