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Four-time league MVP LeBron James had 57 points for the second-best scoring performance of his career as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Washington Wizards with a convincing 130-122 win on Friday.
James claimed a career-high 61 for the Miami Heat on March 3, 2014 against the Charlotte Hornets.
In the match against the Wizards, James also passed the 29,000 career points mark, becoming just the seventh player in NBA history to do so. At 32 years old, he becomes the youngest player in league history to reach that milestone, edging Kobe Bryant (33 years, 199 days) by a fair margin.
James also passed Kevin Garnett for 12th all-time in field goals made. In addition, he needed just two steals to pass former All-Star forward Shawn Marion for 18th place on the NBA all-time steals list.
With the victory in Washington, the Cavs stopped a four games losing streak and lifted their record to four wins and five losses this season. Apart from the 57 points, James also delivered 11 rebounds and seven assists. The 32-year-old sank 23 of 34 shots, including two three-pointers and made all nine of his free throw attempts in front of a crowd of 20,100 at the Capital One Arena in the US capital.
His teammate Derrick Rose added 20 points while Jae Crowder had 17.
Bradley Beal scored 36 points for Washington. John Wall had 13 points and 15 assists.
The two teams seemed to give all out in attacking while paying less attention to defense. The first quarter ended with the Cavs leading at 42-36. The Cavs shot 77.3 percent, the Wizards 66.7 in that quarter.
By halftime, Cleveland's lead was 74-66 on 66 percent shooting. James already had 24 points. In the second half, the host team managed to stay in the game but the awe-inspiring James made all Wizards' efforts in vain.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
