Durant surpassed Michael Jordan’s points, LeBron added another record and Oklahoma City accelerated
Kevin Durant became the fifth highest scorer in NBA history this Saturday, surpassing Michael Jordan’s 32,292 points in the victory of Houston Rocketswhich fights for third place in the West with Los Angeles Lakerswho sealed his ninth straight victory with the saving triple of Luke Kennard on the horn.
The Lakers won in Orlando in the 1,612th game of LeBron James’ career, which left Robert Parish’s record behind. The Angelenos defended their third position, although they are still far from Oklahoma City Thunder and of San Antonio Spurs who continue to add victory after victory.
Durant surpassed Jordan’s mark by scoring 27 points in the Houston Rockets worked 123-122 at home against the Miami Heat. KD, 37, hit five three-pointers and finished the game 9 of 17 from the field.
The Rockets overcame the great night of Bam Adebayo, who had a double-double of 32 points and 21 rebounds in 45 minutes for the Heat.
LeBron James set another record
James, 41, left behind the legendary Parish’s mark in his twenty-third season in the NBA, in which he is also the highest scorer in history.
LeBron added 12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, but his contribution went beyond those numbers. With four seconds on the clock he signed a key defensive play by recovering the ball after a bad serve by Orlando, which was up 104-102.
On the final play, the ball was in the hands of Luke Kennard, who hit the three-pointer. the Lakers’ 105-104 victory over the Magic on the horn.
Luka Doncic contributed 33 points, five rebounds, eight assists and four steals, but also saw the 16th technical of his season, which will lead to suspension according to NBA rules.
Doncic received that technical for provoking his rival Goga Bitadze with just over a minute left in the third quarter.
Oklahoma City Thunder doesn’t stop
OKC sealed its eleventh consecutive victory with a 132-111 victory on its visit to the Washington Wizardswhich they lost for the fifteenth time in a row.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had another outstanding performance with 40 points and extended his streak of consecutive games with more than 20 points, which reached 131 games.
The match was marked by a fight that occurred shortly before half-time, caused by a scuffle between Jaylin Williams and Justin Champagnie, but in which practically all the players were involved after Champagnie touched Ajay Mitchell in the face.
Gilgeous-Alexander had to drag Mitchell towards the locker room tunnel once he managed to get him out of the melee.
The referees expelled him along with his teammates Jaylin Williams and Cason Wallace, as well as Champagnie of the Wizards, also punishing Oklahoma City with four technicals and Washington with two.
The Thunder have a record of 56-15 and maintained their margin of advantage over the Spurs (53-18), who won 134-119 at home against the Indiana Pacers.
Frenchman Victor Wembanyama contributed 20 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists on a night in which Keldon Johnson and Dylan Harper scored 24 points each.
Donovan Mitchell led with 27 points the 111-106 victory of the Cleveland Cavaliers on their visit to the New Orleans Pelicans, Charlotte Hornets beat Memphis Grizzlies 124-101, Atlanta Hawks beat Golden State Warriors 126-110, Los Angeles Clippers beat Dallas Mavericks 138-131 in extra time, Philadelphia 76ers beat Utah Jazz 126-116 and Milwaukee Bucks defeated Phoenix Suns 108-105.
