And if you understand the history of the sport, then there is no way you could ever forget Oscar Robertson.
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Warriors 135, Suns 116: Stephen Curry scored 41 points in three quarters, Draymond Green had a triple-double and Golden State beat host Phoenix to extend its NBA-record start to 18-0.
On Monday night, LeBron James moved into his rarefied air.
LeBron James had 25 points and 13 rebounds and continued his mastery over Charlotte as the Cleveland Cavaliers pulled out a 95-90 victory over the Hornets on Friday night. It moved James past Norm Nixon (6,386) for 25th on the assist list.
James had just five points in the first half for the second straight game, but he also had three rebounds and eight assists in 16 minutes, including the one that put him alongside Robertson in National Basketball Association history. “I’ve been very blessed to be with a lot of great teammates and two great organizations that allowed me to do some unbelievable things”, James said. “So none of that would be possible without them”.
The Magic were led by Andrew Nicholson’s 18 points.
The loss dropped the Cavs to 11-4, still the best mark in the East, but they’re “only” on pace to win 60 games. I’m actually going to take the Hornets with the points as they’ve been money at home all season. But I don’t know. I thought we just ran out of gas.
Despite James’ confidence in himself, Cavs coach David Blatt says he has to manage his star player. “That’s an incredible, wonderful accomplishment”. Batum, Jefferson and Kemba would lead the Hornets against the onslaught of inside baskets from Timofey Mozgov, J.R. Smith, Kevin Love and annual All-Star LeBron James. Detroit center Andre Drummond, who was leading the league with 17.8 rebounds per game, finished with seven.
It was Love, with some help from James, who brought Cleveland back with a one-man scoring spree in the second quarter.
They have outscored the opposition by 14.4 points per game, the most at this point of the season since the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls followed up their record 72-win campaign by outscoring their first 15 opponents by 16.5 points on the way to a 14-1 start the following year. The Cavaliers have suffered each of their four losses on the road and managed only 19 fourth-quarter points in Wednesday’s 103-99 setback.
Skiles marvels at how James can take over any game.
The Cavs remained short-handed as Williams missed his third straight game with an ankle injury.
Magic: G Victor Oladipo made the game’s wildest shot, driving into the lane and blindly flipping the ball over his head into the basket.
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But it was not just Lowry troubling the Cavaliers as all five of Toronto’s starters – DeMar DeRozan (20), Luis Scola (15), DeMarre Carroll (12) and Bismack Biyombo (11) – reached double-digit points. They’re at their best with lineups that don’t include a traditional big man, instead have Stephen Curry with four other players ranging between 6’5 and 6’9 who can do pretty much everything on both sides of the court.
