5 highest scoring games of LeBron James' career
LeBron James is not known primarily as a scorer but did you know he as many as 11 50+ point games so far in his career? That includes a 60-point game. Given his extraordinary talent to pass the ball at his height and the assist numbers he racks up, scoring wasn't ever known to be his primary talent.
Also read: Top 10 Regular season scorers in NBA History
Yet, for his career, one that spans more than 15 seasons and more than 1000 games, he averages around 27 points per game while shooting more than 50% from the field (at the time of writing). Last night, James put on another magnificent scoring performance in Washington to avoid a fifth straight loss for the team.
His 57 points were neither his career-high or the franchise record. That begs the questions - What were the highest scoring games of his career? We share the top 5:
#5 52 points - twice
When and Where: February 4th, 2009 (New York) and December 10th, 2005 (Milwaukee)
Long before Russell Westbrook became the first player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to record a 50-point triple-double last season, James was just one assist shy of achieving that in 2009 at the Mecca - Madison Square Garden. He put up 52 points, 9 rebounds and 11 assists on 17-of-33 shooting in 44 minutes in a win over the New York Knicks.
James' other 52-point game is bizarre or maybe not. Here's how it's weird - he played 43 minutes, scored 52 points along with 7 rebounds and 7 assists yet the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Milwaukee Bucks. And how often does a player score 52 points and end up on the losing side?
Having said that, this scoring outburst came in James' third year and the team wasn't very competitive so it shouldn't come as a surprise that they lost.