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LeBron James sat out his second straight game with a groin injury on Sunday night and has now missed three of the Los Angeles Lakers’ last four.

But LA actually didn’t need “The King” in their matchup with Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets, as Anthony Davis had a monster game for the Lakers with a season-high 37 points, shooting 15-for-25 from the floor while also grabbing 18 rebounds in a 116-103 victory to snap LA’s five-game skid.

Lonnie Walker IV also had a solid outing, making nine of 15 shots en route to a 21-point night. Austin Reaves made five of eight shots, including three of four from beyond the arc, for 15 points, while Russell Westbrook added 14 points and 12 assists off the bench.

Durant led the way for Brooklyn with 31 points, adding nine rebounds and seven assists in the loss.

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

Anthony Davis and LeBron James during a Lakers-Nets matchup in November 2022
LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers congratulates Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers after he scored a season-high 37 points against the Brooklyn Nets during the game at Crypto.com Arena on November 13, 2022 | Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

In sitting out LA’s Sunday night matchup against the Nets, LeBron James remains at 37,311 regular-season points for his career, 1,076 behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar‘s record of 38,387.

If LeBron returns to the Lakers’ lineup on Friday against the Pistons (they have an oddly long break), doesn’t miss any more time, and continues his season pace of 24.9 points per game, he’d surpass Abdul-Jabbar on Saturday, February 11, when LA visits the Golden State Warriors.

If James ups his production and hits his career scoring average of 27.1 points per game moving forward, he’ll pass Kareem on Thursday, February 2, when the Lakers visit the Indiana Pacers.

Have thoughts on this topic? Keep the conversation rolling in our comments section below.

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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.