TORONTO — The king's reign is over, but Lakers a new, more important winning streak began.
LeBron JamesThe Lakers' 18-year streak of 1,297 games with 10 or more points ended Thursday. victory with a score of 123-120 over the Toronto Raptors as the 40-year-old finished with eight points on 4-of-17 shooting.
However, James showed off his game again, sending the assist to Rui Hachimura, who hit the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer. Playing without Luka Doncic, the Lakers (16-5) needed each of James' 11 assists to help fuel the offense led by Austin Reeves“44 points and 10 assists.
The last time James scored in single figures was Jan. 5, 2007, when Milwaukee allowed him eight points on 3-for-13 shooting in 43 minutes. But Cleveland still won that game 95-86 as James had nine assists.
Doncic, the NBA's leading scorer, missed Thursday's game due to personal reasons. He and his fiancee are expecting their second child. Coach JJ Redick said the team hopes to have Doncic back “soon, but we don't have a set date yet.”
Coming off the Lakers' latest loss to the Phoenix Suns on Monday, when he barely extended his streak by scoring four of his 10 points in the fourth quarter of the blowout loss, James came out aggressive on Thursday. His nine shots were the second-most by the Lakers at the break.
But he only had four points. He missed his first six shots, some so badly they didn't even hit the rim.
The Lakers still trailed Reeves by nine points at halftime as James had four assists with no turnovers. Against one of the most destructive defenses in the NBA, Redick preached ball security after the Lakers committed 22 turnovers in a loss to the Suns.
The Lakers had 16 turnovers and five turnovers in the first half.
