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James breaks Jordan’s double-digit record

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LOS ANGELES: LeBron James continued his assault on the NBA record book, passing Michael Jordan for consecutive games with at least 10 points in the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-102 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday.


James wasted no time getting the milestone, doing it for the 867th straight time in his 15-year illustrious career when he finished off a dunk with just under six minutes left in the first quarter.


That gave him 11 points en route to his 27 point, 11 assist and nine rebound performance at Quicken Loans Arena.


James was honoured during a stoppage in play as the crowd of 20,500 gave him a big ovation and he was handed the game ball.


“It will probably go in my trophy case with a lot of accomplishments in my life,” James said of the ball. “That’s a good moment, a special moment not only for myself but for my family and for so many kids that look up to me for inspiration to know that you can actually go out there and do it.


“(You) know, where I’ve come from, brought up 30 minutes south of here, and the statistics is always stacked up against you, and for me to be in this position today, being able to accomplish something that a lot of people thought would not happen again or be able to break a record like that.


“It means a lot for me.”


The last time James didn’t score at least 10 points in a game was January 5, 2007 when he had eight points on three-of-13 shooting against the Milwaukee Bucks.


Jordan’s streak lasted from March 1986 until December 2001. Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is third on the double-digit streak list with 787 games.


Nuggets stop skid


In other action on Friday, Paul Millsap scored a season-high 36 points as the Denver Nuggets jump started their play-off hopes with a 126-125 overtime victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.


Denver, who came into the contest two games out of the No 8 position in the Western Conference play-off race, had lost two straight and needed to turn that around.


Nikola Jokic had 23 points and 16 rebounds, and Will Barton added 18 points for Philadelphia who stretched their winning streak to nine straight.


Russell Westbrook had 33 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds for the Thunder who have lost three of their last five games. Westbrook missed what would have been a game-winning three-pointer at the end of regulation.


Carmelo Anthony scored 23 points and Jerami Grant delivered 16 in the loss.


Millsap made two free throws to put Denver up 124-121 in overtime. Paul George was fouled with four seconds left. He made the first free throw, then Oklahoma City were called for a lane violation on George’s intentional miss. Barton made two free throws on the other end to clinch it.


Elsewhere, Ben Simmons is in the right mindset for scoring triple doubles as the Philadelphia 76ers toppled the Atlanta Hawks 101-91.


Simmons, who is a candidate for rookie-of-the-year, had a triple-double in three quarters, Ersan Ilyasova scored 21 points and the Philadelphia 76ers won their ninth straight.


“I’ll hear a few things like you need two more rebounds or whatever it is, but if I’m not focusing on it, it’s easier to get statistics like that,” he said. “I’m letting the game come to me.”


Philadelphia improved to a season-best 15 games over .500 which matches the club’s longest winning streak since it had nine straight victories in 2003.


Simmons finished with 13 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, to record his fifth triple-double in his last 10 games and 11th overall. Simmons did not play after leaving with 3:37 left in the third. He helped fill the void left by the departure of all-star centre Joel Embiid who earlier in the week suffered a facial fracture and a concussion.


“Without Joel it just means we run more, we shoot the ball a lot more from three, and it’s a quicker game,” Simmons said. “But we lose that big presence of him in the post, changing shots and things like that. So we lose a lot, but we’re able to move the ball a lot quicker.”


Damion Lee finished with a career-high 20 points and Dewayne Dedmon had 11 points and 15 rebounds for the struggling Hawks.


In Houston, Gerald Green made a three-pointer at the buzzer and the Houston Rockets rallied from a 21-point, second-half deficit for a 104-103 victory over the Phoenix Suns. — AFP


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