On Sunday, LeBron James had 37 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 121-114 win over the Brooklyn Nets for the fifth time in a row.
Joining Michael Jordon and Karl Malone, James becomes the third player in the NBA history to have 2000 points in over 10 seasons. James got the mark when there was a made free throw midway the third quarter. James, 33, is presently in his 15th season.
His performance was an extension of James’ hot play recently. Since the loss to San Antonio Spurs on January 23, James is averaging 28.7 points on 55 percent shooting, 9.9 assists, and 9.9 rebounds while the Cavaliers have reached 17-10.
In the game, James bounded off the court for three dunks, which includes one over the Net’s Joe and Dante Cunnigham in traffic near the end of the first quarter which brought on some of the Brooklyn crowd. As per Second Spectrum, that dunk was James 23rd dunk in this season on a contested drive.
Coming back to the Sunday game, James secured the second rank in the league in that category, standing after the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo who had 25 contested dunks on drives. James is 10 years older than the 23-year-old Antetokounmpo. Philadelphia 76ers’ 21-year-old rookie Ben Simmons secured the third rank with 21 contested dunks on drives.
It was the dunk over Harris that caused the Cavaliers bench to go crazy, with Kevin Love leaving his seat and jumping into the stanchion holding the hoop.
James’ amazing overall level of play has gotten his team to decide about his candidacy for the MVP this season. This would be the fifth one of his career that would tie him along with Jordon for the second time.
