LeBron James’ 33 points weren’t enough to stave off a wild overtime loss to rival Boston.
Lakers star LeBron James scored 33 points in Tuesday’s 122-118 overtime loss to the Celtics, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain for the second-most 30-point games in NBA history.
James now has 516 30-point games in 1,386 career appearances. Chamberlain scored 515 in 1,045 games. James is 46 games behind Michael Jordan, who set the record with 562 30-point games in 1,072 games before his final retirement in 2003.
| Most 30 point games, NBA history |
| 1.Michael Jordan, 562 |
| 2. LeBron James, 516 |
| 3. Wilt Chamberlain, 515 |
| 4. Karl Malone, 435 |
| 5.Kobe Bryant, 431 |
James’ latest milestone comes two weeks after he overtook Magic Johnson for sixth in career assists and is closing in on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record.
But it wasn’t enough to stave off a bitter loss to the Lakers’ historic rivals, in which they fought back from 20 points only to squander a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter with four minutes remaining before going into overtime stumbled. James played a crucial role in leading the Lakers to a 22-point lead after halftime.