LeBron James is the most prolific pitcher in NBA history, scoring more points in the main round and playoffs than any other professional basketball player. In the narrow 115:117 loss of the Los Angeles Lakers against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday evening (local time), James overtook Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had scored 44,149 points in his career. James now stands at 44,157. In the more prestigious category, points in the main round, Abdul-Jabbar, active from 1969 to 1989, still leads by 1861 points.
“That’s pretty cool. It’s unbelievable,” said Lakers coach Frank Vogel before the game. “Everything he has done throughout his career is just remarkable. So I think he’s the greatest that has ever played.”
The best pitcher in San Francisco was Klay Thompson, who scored 33 points and thus had more points than almost three years ago. Thompson had completely missed the past two seasons with the Warriors with injuries. Now he made sure that the Warriors did not let the gap to leaders Phoenix Suns get any bigger. The Western Conference number one won 132-105 against the Orlando Magic for his 46th win of the season. Franz Wagner scored twelve points for the Magic.
Despite a significantly improved performance, the defeat was particularly annoying for the Lakers because city rivals Los Angeles Clippers won the away game at the Dallas Mavericks and thus landed an important victory in the fight for the playoff spots. At 99:97 in Dallas, Luka Doncic, who once again played outstandingly, was unable to stop the Clippers. The Slovenian had 45 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, but was unable to prevent his 24th loss of the season against his Western Conference rivals.
Meanwhile, two Germans suffered defeats on Sunday night: basketball shooting star Franz Wagner suffered a significant bankruptcy with the Orlando Magic in the NBA. The team from Florida had to admit defeat at the league leader Phoenix Suns with 105:132. Rookie Wagner had 12 points and the Magic are second to bottom in the Eastern Conference. Franz Wagner’s older brother Moritz was absent again due to a bruised rib.
Maxi Kleber disappointed in the 97:99 loss of his Dallas Mavericks against the Los Angeles Clippers. The international remained without a point in 22 minutes of play. Isaiah Hartenstein recorded two points and five rebounds for the Clippers. Only two days ago, the Mavericks had played against the Clippers, superstar Luka Doncic had set a career high with 51 points. This time, too, the Slovenian excelled with 45 points, but it was Dallas’ first bankruptcy after four wins in a row.
