LeBron James’ 33 points weren’t enough to avert 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 posted 515 in 1,045 games. James sits 46 games behind Michael Jordan, who set the record with 562 30-point games in 1,072 outings 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 surpassed Magic Johnson for sixth in career assists, and continues to inch closer to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring mark.
But it wasn’t enough to avert a bitter loss to the Lakers’ historic rivals, in which they fought back from 20 points down only to squander a 13-point lead with four minutes left in the fourth quarter before stumbling in overtime. James played an instrumental role in leading the Lakers back with 22 points after halftime.
