LeBron James does not plan on halting his scoring run after he finished with 25 points or more for a 17th straight game.
James had a double-double but it was not enough for the fast-finishing Los Angeles Lakers to overcome his former side the Miami Heat on Sunday.
Miami turned up the heat on Lakers coach Frank Vogel, with Los Angeles having now lost five of their last seven games after the 113-107 reverse.
There was at least one bright note for the Lakers, who charged home with 37-24 points down the stretch to reduce the deficit.
James finished with 33 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. The veteran is averaging 29.0 points per game this season for the Lakers, who sit eighth in the Western Conference with a 23-24 record. That ranks him second in the NBA, behind Kevin Durant (29.3).
A knee injury for Anthony Davis earlier in the season meant James has had to deliver, and he has certainly held up his end of the bargain. Indeed, across the last 17 games, only Joel Embiid (33.9) has averaged more than the 37-year-old's 32.5 points.
"I don't need to score 30 a night, but I'm in one of the best zones offensively I've been in, in my career," James told reporters.
"And I don't plan on stopping. That's just how I feel. I feel fantastic. Shooting the ball extremely well. I didn't shoot the three-ball well tonight, but all eight of them felt great.
"I'm shooting efficiently from the free-throw line, shooting efficiently from the field. I was very efficient at the rim. So I don't go into the game saying you got to score 30 or you guys don't have a chance to win the game. I just play the game. The scoring has been happening organically."
Russell Westbrook provided able support on Sunday with 24 points and nine rebounds, but Vogel is looking forward to welcoming Davis back from injury, having said before the game that it will help share the workload.
For his part, however, James has his eye on another milestone. The big one, in fact – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time points record of 38,387.
"As I've continued to climb the ranks, it's natural, human to look at it and see where you are and see if it's even possible. See if you're capable," added James, who is 2,006 points behind the record.
"Obviously health plays the most important part and then just continuing to give your everything to the game. I've never cheated the game. I've never wanted to feel like I was content.
"I wanted to continue to get better and like you said, I will be within 2,000 points, when did you say? Soon? Well, listen, we'll see what happens. I've never chased a record in my life."
Joel Embiid 'ready to go' for play-ins – Nurse
Joel Embiid will be "ready to go" for the Philadelphia 76ers when they host the Miami Heat, coach Nick Nurse has confirmed.
The reigning MVP sat out the Sixers' 107-86 victory over the Brooklyn Nets in Sunday's regular-season finale at Wells Fargo Center.
Embiid returned from a two-month lay-off against the Oklahoma City Thunder two weeks ago, but his status has been questionable for every game since.
And after missing the Nets game, concerns were raised with regards to his status ahead of Wednesday's 7-8 play-in contest with the Heat.
However, Nurse allayed any fears regarding the fitness of Embiid, who practised with the rest of his team-mates on Saturday.
"He did everything at practice yesterday," Nurse said after the Nets win. "But we decided out of caution to hold him out. He'll be ready to go."
Despite winning their final eight games, the Sixers finished seventh in the Eastern Conference and are set to contest their first play-in contest.
As a result of other results over the weekend, the Heat now stand between Philadelphia and a place in the playoffs.
"Obviously, we've had some great battles with them, and we always expect that facing them," Nurse said.
"The mindset is we're playing well and do everything we can, like we've been doing for the last month.
"We're digging in and playing our guys and doing whatever we have to do to win. We've got a good mindset, and we'll take that into Wednesday."
Allen reportedly agrees to 4-year, $70million extension with Suns
When Grayson Allen takes the court for the Phoenix Suns in their first play-off game this weekend, he'll be playing with a new contract.
Allen and the Suns agreed to a four-year, $70million extension on Monday, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The six-year veteran is coming off his best NBA season, averaging career highs of 13.5 points per game, 3.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 0.92 steals while starting 74 of 75 contests.
He also shot a league-leading 46.1 per cent from 3-point range and averaged a career-best 2.7 made 3-pointers per game.
He had seven games this season with at least eight made 3-pointers, and only the Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry had more such games with eight.
The 21st overall pick of the 2018 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz, Allen joined the Suns last off-season as part of the three-team trade that saw Damian Lillard go to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Prior to being acquired by Phoenix, Allen spent one season with the Jazz, two with the Memphis Grizzlies and two in Milwaukee.
He averaged 9.7 points per game in his first five seasons before becoming an important part of Phoenix's offence in 2023-24.
In the 30 games Allen scored at least 14 points, the Suns went 22-8, compared to going 27-25 when he scored 13 or fewer.
Phoenix won 10 of its last 14 games to end the season 49-33, and finish in sixth place in the Western Conference.
The Suns will face the third-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in a first-round play-off series, beginning on Saturday.
'No doubt' Davis will face the Pelicans
The Los Angeles Lakers will have Anthony Davis to call on when they face the New Orleans Pelicans in their upcoming play-in game.
After finishing eighth in the Western Conference, the Lakers will go up against the No.7 seed Pelicans on Tuesday.
While the loser will drop into a game against either the Sacramento Kings or the Golden State Warriors, the winner will go up against the Denver Nuggets in the first round.
The Lakers defeated the Pelicans 124-108 in their final regular-season game on Sunday, with an instant rematch now on the cards.
And Davis, who had to be treated for back spasms after the game, insisted he will be fit to feature.
"No doubt that I'm going to play," said Davis, who finished with 30 points and 11 rebounds.
LeBron James is heading into the playoffs in fine form.
He registered his fifth triple-double of the season, finishing with 28 points, a season-high 17 assists and 11 rebounds.
"I just read the game and I was just finding my teammates and I just tried to put the ball on time and on target for either jump shots or guys at the rim," James said.
"I just tried to be very efficient with my play."
James marked Zion Williamson on Sunday, with the 23-year-old limited to 12 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
However, James was full of praise for his opponent, adding: "He's a beast.
"I mean, it's almost impossible to stop him so I just tried to keep a body on him and just tried to keep it tough on him. He's a great player, man."
Looking towards Tuesday's matchup, James said: "Tuesday's game is going to be extremely hard, extremely difficult, extremely physical.
"I've always known that, when you play a playoff series, and I look at this like a two-game playoff series, if you win that first game, a team has multiple days to kind of sit on that feeling, or sit with that taste in their mouth of defeat.
"So they're going to be extremely ready for us and we have to come in with the same sense of urgency that we had the previous game."
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