NBA on Nov. 14: James passes Chamberlain in scoring

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LeBron James received two pieces of good news after the game on Wednesday. First, he scored 44 points and passed Wilt Chamberlain to rank No.5 on the list of all-time career scoring in an NBA regular season. Second, he led the Los Angeles Lakers to their fourth straight win – 126-117 over the Portland Trail Blazers

King James enters NBA's top 5 scorers list

LeBron James #23 has passed Wilt Chamberlain to rank No.5 on the list of all-time career scoring in an NBA regular season. /VCG Photo

Before Wednesday's game, James was 38 points away from Chamberlain (31,419 points) and ranked No.6 on the list of NBA career scoring leaders. Judging by the Lakers' performance so far this season, it would take a game like the following for James to be motivated enough to go for the number: first it must be close enough as neither side could claim the win before the last five minutes; second, James must still be the No.1 scorer for the Lakers to rely on.

That was exactly the scenario at the Staples Center. The Trail Blazers' whole team was on fire as they made six three-pointers in the first quarter. By contrast, in the team's last game loss to the Lakers, Portland in total put in six three-pointers out of 35 attempts.

Zach Collins of the Portland Trail Blazers shooting a three-pointer. /VCG Photo

The Lakers began to find their target in 3-pt shooting in the second quarter as Lonzo Ball, James and Kyle Kuzma heard the splashes one by one. In the last two and a half minutes, the Trail Blazers got nothing in field goal except one jumper by C. J. McCollum. James put in two consecutive three-pointers in the last 30 seconds to launch a 13-2 run for the Lakers and help the home team lead 59-55 after the first half.

Both teams continued their scoring performance in the third quarter and the Lakers maintained their lead (97-89). The home team took a preemptive attack at the start of the last quarter with an 8-0 run to expand their lead to 16 points. Though Portland kept chasing from behind but never got close enough. James completed a 2+1 to gain his 31,420 points of his career in the regular season, passing Chamberlain on the list where there were less than four minutes left. In the last minute, James again made a 2+1 to help the Lakers lock the win.

James scored 44 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to help the Los Angeles Lakers defeat the Trail Blazers 126-117. /VCG Photo

Besides his 44 points, James also took 10 rebounds, nine assists and four steals, which raised his ranking on NBA list of career turnovers above Kobe Bryant (4,010) as the new No.3 (4,012). Portland's dual stars Damian Lillard and McCollum scored respectively 31 and 23 points. The bad news for the Lakers was that their back point-guard Rajon Rondo broke his right hand and will miss at least the season for at least two weeks.

A humiliating day for Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz piled up multiple record lows after their big 68-118 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. /VCG Photo

The Utah Jazz set multiple embarrassing records after they lost 68-118 to the Dallas Mavericks at home on Wednesday. Fifty points represent the biggest score difference so far in the 2018-19 regular season and the second biggest losing score difference in Jazz's history. Furthermore, the team scored only 22 points in the second half, the lowest second-half scoring performance in franchise history. Their 68 was also the lowest score for any team in one game this season.

Utah's problem for this game was with their offense. Their score decreased by quarter (respectively from Q1 to Q4: 24, 22, 13, 9) and it was Ricky Rubio, a point guard whose biggest weakness was scoring, that put down the team's highest 11 points of the game. As a matter of fact, the Jazz saw none of their players score double digits after the first half.

Three strong teams in the East all lose

Marc Gasol #33 scored 29 points to help the Memphis Grizzlies defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 116-113. /VCG Photo

The two leading teams in the Eastern Conference, the Toronto Raptors and the Milwaukee Bucks both lost on Wednesday. The Bucks watched their undefeated record at home come to an end as the Memphis Grizzlies won 116-113. Marc Gasol and Mike Conley respectively scored 29 and 26 points. Though Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo put down 31 points and nine rebounds, he could not save his team from losing their fourth game. The Bucks' head coach Mike Budenholzer was also ejected during the game for entering the court to argue with the referee.

The Raptors met revenge from their former head coach Dwane Casey and his Detroit Pistons that beat them 106-104 at the Scotiabank Arena. Toronto were leading in most time of the game with the biggest advantage of 19 points. However, the Pistons launched counter-strikes from the end of the third quarter and started to lead in the last five minutes.

Reggie Bullock (R) completed the Detroit Pistons 106-104 win against the Toronto Raptors with a 1.2-second buzzer beater. /VCG Photo

As Toronto tied the score at 104 and their Kawhi Leonard had the chance to kill the game in the last two seconds, he committed a turnover under pressure from Stanley Johnson and put the ball back to rival's hands. Though Piston's first attack after timeout did not succeed, Reggie Bullock made the 1.2-second buzzer beater to bring victory to his team.

The Philadelphia 76ers became the third unlucky strong team in the Eastern Conference on Wednesday as they saw the Orlando Magic launch a 21-0 run to conquer the Wells Fargo Center 111-106.

The new Big Three of the Philadelphia 76ers, Ben Simmons #25, Joel Embiid #21 and newly arrived Jimmy Butler #23 lost their first game playing together to the Orlando Magic 106-111. /VCG Photo

Jimmy Butler made his debut for the 76ers by scoring 14 points. Joel Embiid took the first triple-double in his career with 19 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Philadelphia were leading by 16 points at the beginning of fourth quarter before the Magic responded with a 21-0 run to reverse the tide.

Karl-Anthony Towns put down 25 points and 16 rebounds to help the Minnesota Timberwolves defeat the New Orleans Pelicans 107-100. /VCG Photo

Other results on Wednesday: (away teams come first)

Cleveland 95-119 Washington Wizards

Chicago Bulls 82-111 Boston Celtics

Miami Heat 120-107 Brooklyn Nets

New Orleans Pelicans 100-107 Minnesota Timberwolves

New York Knicks 103-128 Oklahoma City Thunder

San Antonio Spurs 96-116 Phoenix Suns