LeBron James is in a rush to break the NBA points record

LeBron James is increasingly reducing the space that separates him from the NBA record for points (38,387), which in the regular season is still in the possession of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He is eating the ground in bites with the hunger of a rookies. as if he was in a hurry. The estimate is closer to the present and is placed in the first half of February to see even more history from the Akron forward. Against the Rockets, in the second game of a back to back who crowned the special day of the NBA in memory of Martin Luther King, made 48 (5/10 in triples, 11/16 in doubles and 11/12 in free throws) to which must be added, in 36 minutes on the track , 9 assists and 8 rebounds. It is also true that they force him to do so, since Davis still needs to recover and Reaves and Walker also lost again, but what a gamey streak the man has. The bad of the Lakers, three consecutive defeats, ends here. It should also be noted that Russell Westbrook, with a happier finish than yesterday, repeated a positive performance (24 points) and only with the help of each one in his field LeBron James will not need to do ultra-distance races, as we have seen so many of them in recent two years, just past 38.

You have to get inside LeBron’s head to see what he thinks about games like these, against a rival as weak as Houston, in which he has to take all his resources for a walk. Before the kickoff, he was approached by Jabari Smith, the Texans rookie, to remind him that in James’ NBA debut game he had faced his father. A friendly and fun pique, yes, but who knows if it wasn’t fuel for the Lakers megastar’s fire.

During the first half, that cheerful version of the Lakers was seen to which his audience has been well accustomed since Christmas. Being without your second-best player doesn’t give you hope if the rest of the squad is clearly lacking as well, but here he’s pitching in and even making a bleak path pretty. Beverley returned after a few days sick and served as glue, first between attack and defense and also between the lineups proposed by the coach. The change between players was little noticed and that is a good sign. There were 73 scored in the first half. Alperen Sengun (33+15), who only missed three field goals in the entire match, was setting a class and the locals buried such a performance in points on all sides. Life was beautiful until the feared reaction of those from Texas arrived, who had reached -15 on the scoreboard after the break. First, with warmth in the third quarter and with the appearance of Jalen Green (23) to help. Later, entering the last period, sustained until hitting the final pull that placed them next to the Lakers. Good minutes there from Usman Garuba, congratulated by James himself for his fight, to try the comeback. With Kenyon Martin (17) as an exceptional guest, they got within two points (131-129) when there was still more than a minute and a half left, but two plays by James, one by Westbrook and the challenge poorly resolved on a non-existent foul by Sengun slowed down the visitor’s momentum. And twentieth for the Lakers when the Rockets only have ten.

With this game saved, the pothole behind, the January slope is steepened again for the Lakers as they try to alleviate the casualties due to injury. With one more hole in the squad, since Sterling Brown’s short contract has not been renewed. In LeBron’s individual fight to reach that top of the NBA with so many points scored, the parallel, the important one, which he is really pending: to continue keeping the Lakers’ dream alive.

LeBron James’s complaint against the referees

In the run-up to this match, LeBron wanted to emphasize the last two games. Using the end of the match with the Sixers as an example, in which Russell Westbrook missed a layup against Embiid and Niang in which the African center was called for a foul, the Lakers forward has made his anger clear with how the referees are whistling for his team. All despite the fact that the NBA ruled out that there was a foul in that action. “They’ve been telling me all year to my face, on the track, that ‘I haven’t seen it’ or ‘it wasn’t a foul’. To me, seriously, it doesn’t make sense. I’m frustrated as hell. Anyway, we continue”he wrote in his account Twitter in response to a user showing Embiid’s contact with Westbrook.