LeBron James breaks Kobe Bryant’s NBA Christmas Day record
LeBron James broke a NBA record but couldn’t stop the LA Lakers from falling to their fifth consecutive defeat in their clash with the Brooklyn Nets.
The four-time NBA champion broke a record which had previously been held by Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, of holding the most points scored by any player in history on Christmas Day.
LeBron tied Bryant on a lay-up assisted by Russell Westbrook with 4:13 to play in the second-quarter.
He then broke the record with his 13th point of 39 on the night – with a free-throw shortly after being fouled in transition on the Lakers’ next possession.
James who also bagged nine rebounds, seven assists, three steals and a block, has now played in a league-high tying 16 games on Christmas Day – a record he also shares with Bryant.
The 36-year-old also holds other records on Christmas Day including field goals (150) and broke a tie with Kevin Durant for the three-point lead – extending that mark to 28.
He also passed Dolph Schayes – a NBA star of the 1950s – for third on the holiday’s free throws made list with 94, after shooting eight for nine at the line.
James Harden
Despite LeBron’s fine performance, it wasn’t enough to take victory as the Brooklyn Nets – inspired by James Harden and Patty Mills took a 122-115 victory in Los Angeles.
Harden became the eighth player to log a Christmas Day triple-double with an impressive 36 points, ten rebounds and ten assists.
Patty Mills
Mills meanwhile set a Christmas Day record eight three-pointers – tying a career-high 34 points on 11 for 17 shooting including 8 for 13 from range.
The Nets were without Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving due to Covid-19, but Harden returned for the clash to help them to victory.
Nicolas Claxton also played a big part in the victory as he threw down a tiebreaking alley-oop over LeBron with 40.7 seconds left,
LeBron’s Team-mate Russell Westbrook also surpassed Bryant on Saturday for third in Christmas assists, with 11 on the day pushing his career total to 93.
He added 13 points and 12 rebounds to join NBA legend Oscar Robertson as the only players with multiple Christmas Day triple-doubles.
