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LeBron James has obviously won a lot of basketball games in Cleveland over the years. But in his only trip home this season, he couldn’t lead his Los Angeles Lakers to victory over the Cavaliers on Tuesday night.

Playing the majority of the game without the services of Anthony Davis, who left after just eight minutes with flu-like symptoms and didn’t return, James scored 21 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, his most ever in a road game. But it wasn’t enough, as the Lakers saw their three-game winning streak snapped in a 116-102 loss.

Thomas Bryant played admirably in Davis’ absence with 19 points and nine rebounds off the bench, while Russell Westbrook and Dennis Schroder each chipped in with 16 points.

Donovan Mitchell led the way for the Cavs, who are now 11-1 at home, with a season-high 43 points to ruin his idol’s homecoming. He was one of three Cleveland players to hit the 20-point mark as Jarrett Allen scored 24 while Darius Garland added 21 points and 11 assists.

How close is LeBron James to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record after the Lakers’ loss to the Cavaliers?

LeBron James during a Lakers-Cavs matchup in December 2022
LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers shrugs in reaction during the third quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on December 06, 2022 | Jason Miller/Getty Images

With his 21-point effort, LeBron James now has 37,501 regular-season points for his career, putting him just 886 behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar‘s all-time NBA record of 38,387.

Assuming James stays healthy and maintains his season scoring average of 25.8 points per game, he’ll surpass Abdul-Jabbar on Monday, February 13, when LA visits the Portland Trail Blazers.

If LeBron ups his production and hits his career scoring average of 27.1 points per game moving forward, he’ll pass Kareem on Thursday, February 9, when the Lakers host the Milwaukee Bucks.

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