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James understood his historic streak of putting up 10+ points was threatened. In that crucial moment, however, it was not his focus.

The correct basketball play meant distributing the rock – which is exactly what he did. Consequently, the legendary streak was over.

James's staggering run of 1,297 consecutive NBA regular season outings scoring at least ten ended during a recent game, when the league's career points king had only eight points during the Lakers' close win against the Toronto Raptors. He delivered the game-winning assist, feeding teammate Rui Hachimura to knock down a triple as time expired.

“Zero,” James stated after being questioned about the streak ending. “The important thing is we won.”

A Team-First Play Seals the Win

James could have attempted to win the contest – and extended the streak – with the last shot, yet he opted to make the extra pass to Rui stationed in the corner. Hachimura sank it, with LeBron raised his arms immediately.

You have to play the game correctly. You always make the right play,” James explained. “That’s just been how I operate. It's how I learned to play. I've played that way for two decades.”

“LeBron is fully cognizant exactly how many points he's scored during a game,” stated the team's head coach the coach. He acted as he has done throughout his career.”

The Run's End Game

James re-entered the game one last time with 5:23 remaining, the win and his personal record on the line. At that stage, he had six points from 3-of-15 shooting by that point.

He managed a basket with under two minutes remaining to knot the score but then missed a mid-range jumper at 1:01 left that might have pushed him to double digits.

He passed up a subsequent shot – even though he had a chance. A teammate gave James the ball in the waning seconds, yet LeBron decided to make the extra pass instead of shooting.

“The basketball gods, if you do it correctly, they often reward you,” the coach concluded.

The History of a Monumental Run

James's streak started back in January 2007. It was, by far the greatest such streak in professional basketball: Michael Jordan previously held a streak of 866 consecutive double-digit scoring games, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recorded 787 such games, and The Mailman was fourth on the list with 575.

“He’s such a team-oriented player,” said Lakers center Jake LaRavia.

“He’s just playing the game of basketball. He had the opportunity but given who he is on the court and his character off the court, he made the unselfish play, found Rui and claimed the victory.”

Reaching double digits had typically been a guarantee well before the fourth quarter began. During James’s streak, he had attained the 10-point mark entering the fourth 1,266 times before this game.

However, two of those unusual games below ten points after three periods had occurred recently: He recorded nine points entering the final quarter against Dallas last week, then had six going into the fourth versus the Suns earlier in the week.

He succeeded in extend the streak against the Suns. In the following contest, it concluded – and he celebrated regardless.

I only ever make the best play. That’s automatic, no matter what,” James said. “You make the smart play, the basketball gods consistently returning the favor.”