March 3, 2014 is a special date in the extremely rich career of LeBron James.
It was actually that night that the “King” set his career points record, regular season and playoffs combined: 61. The one and only time he has reached 60 units in a game.
A real show of force, therefore, on the part of the one who then wore a (disabling) mask, to protect his broken nose a few days earlier. And for the little anecdote, note also that this mask was transparent and no longer black, at the request of the NBA.
A shower of records
Anyway, this protective mask clearly did not bother LeBron James during his 41 minutes of play against the Bobcats, ancestors of the current Hornets. Bobcats who had already taken 62 points from another member of the 2003 Draft, namely Carmelo Anthony, a few weeks earlier…
Simply unstoppable, “in the zone” even, so much so that he had ” the impression of shooting in an ocean “, the Heat winger took the opportunity to set not only his record for points in a game, but also his records for points in a quarter (25), points in a half (37) and 3-pts in one game (8). Even today, they all still hold.
Above all, “Masked LeBron” set the record for points scored by a Miami player, dethroning Glen Rice’s 56 units (1995). Eight years later, no player in the Florida franchise has done better, or even surpassed the 50-point mark.
It must be said that, to hope to eclipse the mark of LeBron James, it will be necessary above all to show an incredible efficiency, like the main interested party, on this evening of March 2014: 22/33 on shots, 8/10 to 3- pts and 9/12 on free throws! Also with 7 rebounds and 4 assists, for only 2 small ball losses.
« It was a Chamberlain-esque performance, in terms of efficiency “, estimated after the fact Shane Battier, one of the privileged witnesses of this huge offensive card, since he was then playing with the Heat.
Bobcats nightmare
The kind of performance that leads to 11 points in the first quarter, 13 in the second, 25 in the third and finally 12 in the fourth! And who manages to relegate Al Jefferson’s 38 points and 19 rebounds to the background…
« The Man Above Us Gave Me Amazing Basketball Skills confided LeBron James after the game. ” I just try to enjoy it every night. I also benefit from the confidence of my coach and my teammates, who let me play my game. »
And the quadruple MVP to add: “ What helped me was that we couldn’t make any defensive stops in the last quarter. It allowed me to stay longer on the floor. I tried to make the difference and I’m happy that I was able to put together a few actions to help us win the match. »
Suffice to say that the Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Josh McRoberts, Chris Douglas-Roberts and other Anthony Tollivers had a real nightmare that night at the American Airlines Arena (now FTX Arena). Nightmare which would be confirmed a month and a half later, in the playoffs, since Miami “swept” Charlotte in the first round, on the way to its fourth consecutive qualification for the Finals.
From Finals 2014 finally lost sharply by the Heat, against the Spurs (1-4), and which especially marked the end of the Florida era of LeBron James, then eager to enter the legend with “his” Cavaliers…
THE “SHOTCART” OF LEBRON JAMES
LEBRON JAMES PERFORMANCE ON VIDEO
| LeBron James | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Tirs | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Fte | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2003-04 | CLE | 79 | 40 | 41.7 | 29.0 | 75.4 | 1.3 | 4.2 | 5.5 | 5.9 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 3.5 | 0.7 | 20.9 |
| 2004-05 | CLE | 80 | 42 | 47.2 | 35.1 | 75.0 | 1.4 | 6.0 | 7.4 | 7.2 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 27.2 |
| 2005-06 | CLE | 79 | 43 | 48.0 | 33.5 | 73.8 | 1.0 | 6.1 | 7.0 | 6.6 | 2.3 | 1.6 | 3.3 | 0.8 | 31.4 |
| 2006-07 | CLE | 78 | 41 | 47.6 | 31.9 | 69.8 | 1.1 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 6.0 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 3.2 | 0.7 | 27.3 |
| 2007-08 | CLE | 75 | 40 | 48.4 | 31.5 | 71.2 | 1.8 | 6.1 | 7.9 | 7.2 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 3.4 | 1.1 | 30.0 |
| 2008-09 ★ | CLE | 81 | 38 | 48.9 | 34.4 | 78.0 | 1.3 | 6.3 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 28.4 |
| 2009-10 ★ | CLE | 76 | 39 | 50.3 | 33.3 | 76.7 | 0.9 | 6.4 | 7.3 | 8.6 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 29.7 |
| 2010-11 | MY | 79 | 39 | 51.1 | 33.0 | 75.9 | 1.0 | 6.5 | 7.5 | 7.0 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 3.6 | 0.6 | 26.7 |
| 2011-12 ★ | MY | 62 | 38 | 53.1 | 36.2 | 77.1 | 1.5 | 6.4 | 7.9 | 6.2 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 27.2 |
| 2012-13 ★ | MY | 76 | 38 | 56.5 | 40.6 | 75.3 | 1.3 | 6.8 | 8.0 | 7.3 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 3.0 | 0.9 | 26.8 |
| 2013-14 | MY | 77 | 38 | 56.7 | 37.9 | 75.0 | 1.1 | 5.9 | 6.9 | 6.3 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 3.5 | 0.3 | 27.1 |
| 2014-15 | CLE | 69 | 36 | 48.8 | 35.4 | 71.0 | 0.7 | 5.3 | 6.0 | 7.4 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 3.9 | 0.7 | 25.3 |
| 2015-16 | CLE | 76 | 36 | 52.0 | 30.9 | 73.1 | 1.5 | 6.0 | 7.4 | 6.8 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 25.3 |
| 2016-17 | CLE | 74 | 38 | 54.8 | 36.3 | 67.4 | 1.3 | 7.3 | 8.6 | 8.7 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 4.1 | 0.6 | 26.4 |
| 2017-18 | CLE | 82 | 37 | 54.2 | 36.7 | 73.1 | 1.2 | 7.5 | 8.7 | 9.1 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 4.2 | 0.9 | 27.5 |
| 2018-19 | LAL | 55 | 35 | 51.0 | 33.9 | 66.5 | 1.0 | 7.4 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 3.6 | 0.6 | 27.4 |
| 2019-20 | LAL | 67 | 35 | 49.3 | 34.8 | 69.3 | 1.0 | 6.9 | 7.8 | 10.2 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 3.9 | 0.5 | 25.3 |
| 2020-21 | LAL | 45 | 33 | 51.3 | 36.5 | 69.8 | 0.6 | 7.0 | 7.7 | 7.8 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 3.7 | 0.6 | 25.0 |
| 2021-22 | LAL | 43 | 37 | 51.9 | 34.9 | 75.7 | 1.1 | 6.8 | 7.9 | 6.3 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 29.0 |
| Total | 1353 | 38 | 50.4 | 34.5 | 73.4 | 1.2 | 6.3 | 7.5 | 7.4 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 27.1 | |
