After PA announcer Matt Cord announced the milestone, something interesting happened: The Sixers crowd gave James a pretty loud ovation, much more than just a polite golf clap.
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One of those moments occurred with roughly 8:10 remaining in Monday night’s game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center.
“The man above definitely reached down and touched me a little bit”, James said, according to ESPN. “I’ve been around a few great groups and I’m able to reap a lot of benefits”. It’s a cool thing. He left the game for good shortly after, finishing with 22 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists to narrowly miss his first triple-double of the season. The Cavs were down by 14 after the first quarter to a not so reputed Philadelphia team but a furious led by James and Kevin Love (15 points, 8 rebounds) ensured their team the win. He joined Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki, San Antonio’s Tim Duncan, Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett, Los Angeles’ Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce of the Clippers.
James surpassed Bryant, who reached the plateau at 31 years, 151 days old.
Another feat for James was giving 18,094 Philadelphia fans a reason to cheer; he was rewarded with a standing ovation.
James made the remarks within the context of how the Cavs’ offense will operate once point guard Kyrie Irving returns from knee surgery.
Jahlil Okafor, the third player drafted this year, led the Sixers with 24 points. The veteran is historically inconsistent with his jump shot and is off to an 8-of-29 start from the field in the first four games.BUZZER BEATERS1. “I know everyone is kind of waiting around to see how well he can play the game”.
The two-time National Basketball Association Champion LeBron James was 13-of-19 from the floor for the Cavs, which pulled away midway through the second half of the game to a victory for the second time in three contests. “It was a game we could’ve had”, Nets coach Lionel Hollins said.
“Nineteen guys?” James said of the few who reached the mark before him.
Dellavedova had 12 points, nine assists and five rebounds for Cleveland, and guard/forward James Jones contributed 12 points.
Brown said: “I think it’s a great learning lesson in the third period people come out of locker rooms and you go one way or the other”. You gotta put the time in.
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James, 20th on the all-time scoring list, could not immediately put it in perspective – no surprise, perhaps, considering he has won four MVP awards, two National Basketball Association titles and made the All-Star team every season but his first.
