Having lost four in a row, the Cleveland Cavaliers needed a win Friday night against the Washington Wizards, and thanks to LeBron James, they got one.
The King put on a regal performance, finishing with 57 points on an incredibly efficient 23-of-34 shooting, while also chipping in 11 rebounds, and 7 assists to lead the Cavs to a 130-122 victory.
Just look at this shot chart. Fifteen of seventeen at the rim!
OK, now let's check out the highlights.
After the game, James said, "I had to do what I had to do to help us get off this losing streak. I ain't about losing. Y'all know me."
In addition to his motivation to stop the losing streak, LeBron also got some extra juice from Bradley Beal. A few hours before the game, Beal said on ESPN that the Wizards were the best team in the Eastern Conference. As we know now, it turns out that wasn't such a wise thing to get on national TV and say.
So, given that this was a historic performance, let's learn some fun facts and stats about what LeBron just did.
- LeBron's 57 points were four shy of his career-high of 61, which he set in March of 2014.
- The 57-point performance tied Kyrie Irving (lol) for the all-time single-game scoring record in Cavaliers history.
- LeBron surpassed 29,000 career points in the process, and became the youngest player ever to reach the milestone.
- Including this game, LeBron now has 11 50-point games, tying him with Allen Iverson for the third-most in the 3-point era. Only Michael Jordan (31) and Kobe Bryant (25) have more.
- Since 1983, LeBron's performance was only the sixth 55-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist game. David Robinson, Michael Jordan, Tracy McGrady, Russell Westbrook, and LeBron himself back in 2005, were the others.
- This was the 283rd 30-point, 5-rebound, 5-assist game in LeBron's career. Only Oscar Robertson (350) has more.
- LeBron scored double-digit points on four different defenders during the game, putting up 16 against John Wall, 11 against both Kelly Oubre Jr. and Otto Porter, and 10 against Bradley Beal.
- As Dion Waiters pointed out, LeBron and Dwyane Wade combined for 59 points, just like the old days.
- LeBron also became the first player over 30 years old to score 50-plus points on over 65 percent shooting since... Andre Miller!
- And finally, LeBron -- who earlier on Friday night passed the Black Mamba as the youngest player ever to reach 29,000 career points -- joined Kobe Bryant as the only other player to score 50-plus points in their 15th season or later.