By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
LeBron James emerged as the oldest player to register back-to-back triple-doubles, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a win, 123-103, against the Toronto Raptors in Crypto.com Arena.
The 39-year-old forward combined 19 points with 16 assists and ten rebounds on NBA Sundays.
“I was blessed by the man above with some out-of-this-world ability from the beginning and then I took full advantage of it. I wasn’t going to disrespect what he was giving me. Let’s see how long I can do it. But I won’t do it until the wheels fall off, I’ll tell you that. I won’t be one of those guys,” he said after taking over for the Lakers to improve to 6-4 in the 2024-25 NBA Regular Season.
“LeBron James is probably one of the best, if not the best player to ever play this game. It’s easy to forget that,” added Darko Rajakovic, the Serbian head coach of the Raptors, on the four-time NBA champion.
His starting center, Jakob Poeltl posted a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double in the losing effort. The physical defense of the 29-year-old Austrian big resulted in an inadvertent hit to Anthony Davis and forced his opponent to leave the game midway through the third quarter with a swollen left eye.
Chet Holmgren injury
In Paycom Center, Stephen Curry poured in 36 points with 13/23 field goals, including seven triples, pushing the Golden State Warriors to a win, 127-116, against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Besides a home loss, the Thunder lost Chet Holmgren in the first quarter. Following the game, he was officially placed on the injury list for at least two months. German Isaiah Hartenstein (left hand fracture) and Serbian Nikola Topic (left knee surgery) are among his teammates already sidelined.
Against the Warriors, Belgian Ajay Mitchell scored 12 points. French Ousmane Dieng had two points and Dutch Malevy Leons stayed on the bench.