The first question after LeBron James put up 21 and 8 to help the Lakers beat the Spurs Friday night was whether he would play in the back-to-back Saturday. He had just missed five games with a groin strain, after all.
Not only did LeBron play Saturday, he had a historic night.
LeBron had 39 points, 11 rebounds, and shot 7-of-12 from 3 — making him the oldest player in the history of the NBA with a 35+, 10+ with seven 3-pointer game.
👑 @KingJames propelled the @Lakers to the win, dropping 23 points in the 2nd half on his way to a season-high 39 points! #LakeShow
— NBA (@NBA) November 27, 2022
🔥 39 PTS | 11 REB pic.twitter.com/Bl62cXJUa4
The youngest player ever to put up that stat line? Also one LeBron James.
It doesn’t matter what age LeBron James is, he’s still setting records in Year 20 👑
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) November 27, 2022
He was the youngest, and now becomes the oldest player to notch:
35+ points
10+ rebounds
7+ 3PM pic.twitter.com/W7SkQww1R1
The 39 points were also the second most points ever scored by a player in his 20th NBA season, trailing only Kobe Bryant gunning his way to 60 in his final game.
The Lakers got the second straight win over the Spurs on Saturday behind LeBron, 143-138, a game more likely to be remembered for Zach Collins getting ejected for a foul that left Russell Westbrook bloody. The Lakers have won three straight and 5-of-6 but have done it against a very soft part of the schedule (three of the wins were over the tanking Spurs). Los Angeles beat the teams in front of it and started to show signs of life this season, but now they have to carry that over into a stretch against better teams, beginning Monday against the Pacers.
