LeBron James dominates as Cavaliers top Wizards, 130-122; three takeaways

1. The King holds court

Friday night was one of those games where LeBron James simply took over. Perhaps it was his increased “grumpiness” from their four-game losing streak, or perhaps it was John Wall’s comments from earlier in the day. Regardless of the reason, however, James went off for 57 points (33 of which came in the second half) on 23-of-34 shooting. He added in 11 rebounds, seven assists and three steals for good measure.

57 POINTS. ?

Sit back & enjoy all 57 from @KingJames. ?#CavsWizards || #AllForOne pic.twitter.com/B3cGueiKR1

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) November 4, 2017

It was the 11th time in his career that James scored 50 or more points. It was his first 50-plus point game since March of 2014. For a good portion of the second half, the Cavs seemed content to go back to iso-ball, (which they did a majority of last year) and it clearly worked in James’ favor.

James was also influential on the defensive end, taking on more a “quarterback” role as head coach Tyronn Lue likes to say. As a result, the Cavs seemed to have more success in the second half defending screen and rolls and communicating on their switches.

But as we hit on in the preview piece, tonight was a pretty big night for LeBron James as far as personal milestones go.

James at 32 (and 308 days) became the youngest player to hit 29,000 career points when he scored eight points in the first five minutes of the game. He surpasses Kobe Bryant, who previously held the distinction after accomplishing the feat at 33 (and 199 days).

He’s also 11th all-time in field goals made, surpassing both Kevin Garnett (10,505 FGM) and John Havlicek (10,513 FGM).

Finally, when James hit the 10-point mark in the first quarter, tonight’s game became the 800th consecutive regular-season game that he has scored in double-figures. He is second all-time in NBA history only to Michael Jordan, who did so in 866 consecutive games.

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