LeBron James couldn’t quite keep up with Kobe Bryant, so he ended up hanging out with Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
James scored a season-high 52 points in his 21st career triple-double, joined Jordan as the only visitors with multiple 50-point games at the present Madison Square Garden, and led Cleveland to a 107-102 victory over New York Wednesday night.
Two nights after Bryant set a record at the present building with 61 points, James was on pace to break it after scoring 20 in the first quarter.
“I don’t go out there for the numbers, I just play my game,” James said. “You guys seen every phase of my game tonight, the scoring, the rebounding, the assists and defensively just trying to attack the opposing team.
“I never thought you could look at the box score and see somebody with 50 with a triple-double, but it’s happened.”
James added 11 assists and 10 rebounds, becoming the first player since Abdul-Jabbar in 1975 to have a triple-double in a 50-point game. James grabbed his final rebound with under 2 seconds left, then tumbled out of bounds as time expired.
nd’s Wally Szczerbiak said. “I bet his fantasy owners are pretty happy.”
In other NBA games Wednesday night, it was: the Los Angeles Lakers 115, Toronto 107; Golden State 124, Phoenix 112; Dallas 104, Portland 99; Orlando 125, the Los Angeles Clippers 96; New Jersey 115, Washington 88; Chicago 107, New Orleans 93; Denver 114, Oklahoma City 113; Detroit 93, Miami 90; Atlanta 94, Minnesota 86; and Memphis 104, Houston 93.
Last March in New York, James finished with 50 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. Jordan is the only other visiting player to twice score 50 at Madison Square Garden, with a high of 55 that was the opponent record before Bryant broke it.
“The sad thing is that I’m sure LeBron said that it’s no big deal to get 61 points – `I’ll just get a triple-double. (Kobe) didn’t do that,”’ Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 15 points, and Szczerbiak had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who have won four straight and eight of nine. They are off until a showdown with Bryant and the Lakers on Sunday in Cleveland.
Al Harrington scored 39 points for New York.
Lakers 115, Raptors 107
At Toronto, Kobe Bryant scored 36 points, Pau Gasol added 31 and Los Angeles won its fourth straight and eighth in nine games.
ip to Boston since losing the NBA finals.
Joey Graham had a career-high 24 points for Toronto. All-Star Chris Bosh left the game with 9:50 left because of a sprained right knee.
Warriors 124, Suns 112
At Oakland, Calif., Stephen Jackson had 30 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for Golden State for his first career triple-double.
Jamal Crawford scored 27 points, and Kelenna Azubuike had 19 of his 25 in the first quarter for the Warriors, who started the game on a 17-2 run.
Former Warriors guard Jason Richardson had 24 points for Phoenix.
Mavericks 104, Trail Blazers 99
At Dallas, Josh Howard scored 23 points for Dallas, Jason Terry added 20, and Jason Kidd moved past Oscar Robertson for fourth place on the NBA’s career assists list.
Kidd finished with 10 assists, giving him 9,985 for his career.
Brandon Roy led Portland with 26 points.
Magic 126, Clippers 96
At Orlando, Fla., Anthony Johnson had a season-high 25 points for Orlando in place of injured All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson.
Johnson took control in the Magic’s first game since Nelson tore the labrum in his right shoulder, doubling his regular-season career high with six 3-pointers. Al Thornton had 27 points for Los Angeles in its seventh straight loss.
Nets 115, Wizards 88
inst the short-handed Washington en route to its third straight victory.
Vince Carter added 20 points. Nick Young led Washington with 21 points.
Bulls 107, Hornets 93
At New Orleans, Derrick Rose scored 21 points, and Ben Gordon had 19 to help Chicago hand New Orleans its fourth straight loss.
David West led New Orleans with 24 points and 14 rebounds. All-Star guard Chris Paul missed the game because of a strained right groin.
Nuggets 114, Thunder 113
At Oklahoma City, Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points, including the winning basket with 5.3 seconds left, in Denver’s third straight victory.
Anthony also had 11 assists. Kevin Durant had 31 points for Oklahoma City.
Pistons 93, Heat 90
At Auburn Hills, Mich., Rodney Stuckey hit two jumpers in the final 90 seconds, and finished with 18 points for Detroit.
Rasheed Wallace also had 18 points for Detroit, and Antonio McDyess added a season-high 17 rebounds. Dwyane Wade led Miami with 29 points and 13 assists.
Hawks 94, Timberwolves 86
At Minneapolis, Marvin Williams had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Josh Smith added 19 points and seven rebounds, and Mike Bibby had 24 points and seven assists for Atlanta.
Al Jefferson led Minnesota with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Grizzlies 104, Rockets 93
At Memphis, Tenn., O.J. Mayo scored 32 points, and Rudy Gay had 18 points and nine rebounds to help Memphis win its second straight game.
Tracy McGrady led Houston with 21 points.
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