LeBron James has reached the next milestone and won his 30,000th game against San Antonio Spurs (31-18). point of his career. However, the Cleveland Cavaliers (27-19) played so weakly that the Texans, who were weakened by the replacement, scored a loose 114-102 win and thus ruined LeBron’s evening.
The Cavs were all eyes on LeBron James, who missed 7 points before the game to move into the players’ club with 30,000 points – a nice diversion in troubled times for the Ohio franchise. The Spurs, however, had other problems: Besides Kawhi Leonard, Manu Ginobili and Rudy Gay, Pau Gasol also dropped out with a wrist injury and Davis Bertans started for him. In addition, Tony Parker came back from the bank, Dejounte Murray played from the beginning.
The first quarter was even after the Spurs had compensated for Cleveland’s better start – Jae Crowder had already sunk 3 threesomes. After 12 minutes it was time: With the last jumper of the first round, LeBron scored points 7 and 8 of the game and as the youngest player of all time, he broke the barrier of 30,000 points – congratulations!
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Of course, there was no big celebration on foreign parquet, although LBJ received some applause from the Spurs fans. Shortly before the break, the hosts managed their first bigger run (16:3), thanks to which they took a 63:55 lead into the cabin. After the page change, the Texans continued to set themselves apart, leading double-digit figures for the first time. On the other hand, Isaiah Thomas took individual actions that kept his team within reach. LeBron also refuelled several times. With a 89:81 for San Antonio it went into the final section.
In this one, Tristan Thompson and Dwyane Wade brought the Cavs up to 4 points, but Parker beat them with great drives. Murray’s fastbreak dark set back to plus 8. It remained until the start of the crunchtime. A Danny Green Fastbreak trio let it get back to double digits, Ty Lue needed the next break. But it didn’t bring much more: The hosts played down their boots and brought the advantage relaxed over time.
Top scorer of the game was All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge with 30 points (12/18 FG) and 8 rebounds, Murray scored 19 points, Parker with 14 and 6 assists. James finished the evening with 28 points, 9 rebounds and 7 templates, Thomas was the only one to deliver halfway usable support (14 points).
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Adam Silver (Commissioner, about LeBron’s milestone):”Congratulations to LeBron for scoring 30,000 points – the next extraordinary milestone in his inspiring career.”
LaMarcus Aldridge. The L-Train showed with an efficient performance that he was rightly elected to the All-Star team. Out of the Lowpost he could hardly be stopped in the one-on-one. He didn’t force anything and in case of doubt he held up the Ball Movement. In pick-and-roll, it shone with good timing.
J.R. Smith. In the third quarter, he took a jumper out of the insulation and hit the side edge of the board. Afterwards he trotted head-shaking back into the Defense. This sequence symbolized his performance this evening (0 points, 0/4 FG; 2 TO). In the final phase it was practically invisible.
Tony Parker’s “degradation” had a positive effect on the second unit of the Spurs, with which the Frenchman stood mostly on the floor. Not only did he successfully create for his colleagues, but he also gained the necessary self-confidence from successful jumpers from half distance early on. Of course, he also benefited from the fact that the players of the second cavs guard defended the pick-and-roll even worse than the starting five, if that is possible at all. At the age of 35, TP9 seemed to be as fast as an arrow.