LOS ANGELES (AP) - LeBron James scored 50 points for the 15th time in his career and helped rally the Los Angeles Lakers to a 122-109 win over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.
The 37-year-old superstar has become the oldest player to play 50-point games in a season. Bernard King was the first to do so in 1990–91 with Washington at the age of 34.
"He's really good at basketball, LeBron James," coach Frank Vogel said. “Just an incredible, unbelievable, epic performance. When he tears up, try to leave him on for as long as possible and make sure he has enough gas in the tank to finish.”
This is the second straight home game during which James has scored at least 50 runs and the third time he has done so with the Lakers. His season-high was 56 in a win over Golden State last Saturday.
James is the first Lakers player since the late Kobe Bryant in 2008 to have back-to-back 50-point home games.
“We just needed to ramp up our energy and get more detailed information on how to attack the Wizards. We did that, especially in the third quarter,” said James, who was 18 out of 25 off the field And he made six 3-pointers in 36 minutes. "I was able to hit a hot streak at one point. I just tried to stay in that area for as long as possible and hit a couple. ,
James also had six rebounds and dropped to 12th on the NBA's career defensive rebound list with 8,553 to overtake Dikembe Mutombo.
James brought the Lakers back to 12 straight points during a 22-8 run when they took an 82-75 lead with 2:25 remaining. James's flurry included a rumbling dunk in the middle of the quarter to top Los Angeles 73-70.
He then had 14 points in the fourth quarter as the Lakers continued to retreat. Los Angeles, which had dropped six of their last seven coming into the game, led the middle of the fourth by over 18.
Malik Monk added 21 points and Talen Horton-Tucker added 15 points for the Lakers.
50 points for @KingJames
— NBA (@NBA) March 12, 2022
18-25 shooting@Lakers W
LeBron is the 1st NBA player with 50+ twice in three games since 2020! pic.twitter.com/tEYDFZXiM6
Kyle Kuzma, who played four seasons for the Lakers, led Washington with 23 points and rookie Corey Kispert scored a career-high 21 points, including five 3-pointers.
Kentavius Caldwell-Pope, who was part of the Lakers' 2020 NBA Championship squad, and Kuzma were given a video salute during their first dismissal. Both players were traded to Washington during the off-season to acquire Russell Westbrook.
Caldwell-Pope struggled on his return to LA. He was 1 out of 6 from the floor and had only four points. He also got a technical glitch late in the first quarter.
Tip ins
Wizards: Washington took a 62-53 lead early in the third quarter before the Lakers scored. ... Rui Hachimura had 13 of his 15 points in the first half. ... Kristap Porzingis had a season-high 14 rebounds with 14 points. ... Tomas Sotoranski had 10 out of 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Lakers: Westbrook had nine assists and ranked Andre Miller 11th on the career assist list. Westbrook has 8,529 in his 13-year career. ... Austin Reeves had 12 points.
Next
Wizards: Continue your four-game road trip in Portland on Sunday.
Lakers: Travel to Phoenix on Sunday.