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While certainly not their greatest defensive effort, the Los Angeles Lakers won a season-best fifth straight game on Saturday night in a 136-134 slugfest with the Sacramento Kings.

For the 13th consecutive time, LeBron James shot at least 50% from the floor, hitting the number right on the head in bucketing 14 of 28 shots en route to a game-high 37 points.

Thomas Bryant had yet another solid outing in his own right with 29 points and 14 rebounds, while Dennis Schroder scored 27, his last two coming from the foul line with just 3.6 seconds remaining to give the Lakers the victory. Russell Westbrook was exceptional as well, with 23 points, 15 assists, and five rebounds off the bench.

De’Aaron Fox led the way for Sacramento with 34 points and nine assists, while Damontas Sabonis recorded his 16th consecutive double-double, setting a new franchise record, with 25 points and 12 rebounds.

How close is LeBron James to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record after the Lakers’ win over the Kings?

LeBron James during a Lakers-Kings matchup in January 2023
LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers drives to the basket against Domantas Sabonis and Kevin Huerter of the Sacramento Kings in the second quarter at Golden 1 Center on January 07, 2023 | Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images

With his 37-point effort on Saturday night, LeBron James now has 37,965 regular-season points for his career, putting him just 422 behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar‘s all-time NBA record of 38,387.

If LeBron stays healthy and maintains his season scoring average of 29.1 points per game moving forward, he’ll pass Kareem on Tuesday, February 7, when the Lakers host the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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Senior Writer, Programmer

Luke Norris

Luke Norris began his sportswriting career in 2013 and joined Sportscasting in 2020. The former Section Editor of the NFL and Motorsports sections, he now spends his time here in the role of Senior Writer-Programmer. His well-rounded sports knowledge allows him to cover the NFL, NBA, PGA Tour, MLB, boxing, WWE, and NASCAR for Sportscasting.

Luke is an avid golfer who finds inspiration in the way sports can bring people together and provide a distraction from the real world. He hopes to provide a little entertainment or an escape from the real world with every article he writes, even if only for a few minutes.

In addition to his work here at Sportscasting, Luke’s work has appeared on  The Sportster, Inquisitr, GiveMeSport, FanSided, Yahoo! Fox Sports, and Sports Illustrated.