A day after turning 37, LeBron James reminded anyone who needed reminding that the rules of time do not apply to him.
Father Time comes for everyone. But not James, who appears to still be evolving.
Despite the Los Angeles Lakers’ early season struggles, James has been anything but the problem.
On Saturday (AEDT), while playing the centre position, James recorded his seventh straight game with 30+ points in a 139-106 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
James had 27 points at the half, and finished with 43 points, 14 rebounds, and four assists in just 29 minutes as the Lakers started ‘small’ and stayed small, with James playing the five throughout the game.
Despite the game being totally out of reach for Portland, James returned in the fourth quarter to pile on some extra misery as he added another seven points before finally sitting.
Russell Westbrook tallied a quiet triple-double; 15 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists helping the Lakers cruise to the win.
Carmelo Anthony added 16 points off the bench.
The Lakers remain below .500 at 18-19 on the season, while Portland dropped to 13-22 after a severely disappointing start to the campaign.
DEROZAN AND THE BULLS STAY HOT
DeMar DeRozan dropped in a three-point buzzer-beater off one leg to hand the Bulls a 108-106 win over the Indiana Pacers to end a big year for Chicago.
The shot saw the Bulls improve to 23-10 on the season; DeRozan and co. now sitting in the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
“For that shot to go in, we were battling that whole fourth quarter, feeling like nothing was going our way on both ends,” DeRozan said after claiming what was the Bulls’ sixth straight win.
“We couldn’t get a rebound. We couldn’t get going offensively. It felt like we were getting beat up here and there. So it was a big-time relief for me.”
The shot was the second game-winning buzzer beater of DeRozan’s career, according to ESPN, and his first since January 2013.
He finished with 28 points and now leads the league in points per game in the fourth quarter.
LOVE IS TIMELESS
Forgotten star Kevin Love turned back the clock on Saturday despite an understrength Cleveland Cavaliers dropping to a 121-118 defeat to the Atlanta Hawks.
Love scored 35 points and added 11 rebounds and four assists off the bench for Cleveland, who got 21 points from Jarrett Allen and another 16 points from rookie Evan Mobley.
It wasn’t enough though as Trae Young dropped 35 points and 11 assists, and Clint Capela tallied 18 points and a staggering 23 boards.
NBA SCORES
PHOENIX SUNS 108 — 123 BOSTON CELTICS
CHICAGO BULLS 108 — 106 INDIANA PACERS
DALLAS MAVERICKS 112 — 96 SACRAMENTO KINGS
MIAMI HEAT 120 — 110 HOUSTON ROCKETS
ATLANTA HAWKS 121 — 118 CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS 108 — 116 TORONTO RAPTORS
SAN ANTONIO SPURS 105 — 118 MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
NEW YORK KNICKS 80 — 95 OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES 108 — 120 UTAH JAZZ
SOURCE: FOX SPORTS