MY ACCOUNT
Frank Vogel led the praise for LeBron James after the four-time MVP scored 50 points in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 122-109 win over the Washington Wizards.
James reached the half-century mark for the 15th time in his illustrious career, and a second time in the space of three games, to inspire the Lakers’ comeback victory.
The 37-year-old was 18 of 25 from the field and made six 3-points in the space of 36 minutes as Vogel’s side rallied to snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 29-37.
He is the first Lakers player with 50-or-more points in back-to-back home games since Kobe Bryant in 2007 after hitting 56 against the Golden State Warriors last week.
Adding to his growing list of records, James is also the first player in NBA history to have a 50-point game followed by a triple-double followed by another 50-point game.
Nineteen years on from starting his career at the Cleveland Cavaliers, Vogel is amazed by James’ longevity at the top of the sport.
“He’s really good at basketball, that LeBron James,” Vogel told reporters after the game.
“I think what stands out to me is the league has never seen a player at his stage of his career do what he’s doing. Just an incredible, unbelievable, epic performance.”
With six rebounds against the Wizards, James moved past Dikembe Mutombo into 12th place on the NBA’s career defensive rebounds list with 8,553.
He is just two assists away from becoming the first player ever to reach 30,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists in NBA history.
Reflecting on another standout display, James said: “We just needed to pick our energy up and get more detailed about how we wanted to attack the Wizards.
“We did that, especially in the third quarter. I was able to hit a hot streak at one point. I just tried to stay in that zone as long as possible and hit a couple.
“For us to be able to come in in the third quarter, that’s been one of our down quarters this year, held them to 23 points in that third and run off 37. It was big for us.”
Malik Monk scored 21 points and Talen Horton-Tucker added 15 for the Lakers, helping to inflict a third defeat in four games on the 29-36 Wizards.
Kristap Porzingis’s season-high 14 rebounds and 14 points looked as though it would be enough for the visitors until James took over.
“Bron was exceptional tonight, it’s hard to stop him,” Porzingis said. “Even at his age, he’s still capable of doing incredible things like that.
“Once he got going, it was really hard to stop anything he was doing.”
The Lakers return to action on Sunday when they face the NBA-leading Phoenix Suns, who have already booked a playoff spot, while the Wizards face the Portland Trail Blazers.
