History for LeBron James as Lakers advance in NBA in-season tournament

LOS ANGELES: LeBron James claimed another piece of NBA history on Tuesday, becoming the first player to break the 39,000-point barrier as the Los Angeles Lakers routed the Utah Jazz to reach the knockout stage of the league’s new in-season tournament.

The 38-year-old, needing just five points to reach the milestone heading into the game, etched his name into the record books with a three-pointer in the first quarter of a 131-99 Lakers win.

James, who passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar last season to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, saluted the crowd as his achievement was announced.

James’ latest record set the mood for a celebratory occasion at the Crypto.com Arena as the Lakers went on to score a wire-to-wire win and reach the in-season tournament’s quarterfinals.

James finished with 17 points from 6-of-10 shooting, while Anthony Davis led the Lakers scorers with 26 points, 16 rebounds and four assists.

Elsewhere, Kevin Durant also passed a scoring milestone, moving up to 11th place on the NBA’s career scoring list in Phoenix’s 120-107 drubbing of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Durant needed 14 points to overtake Elvin Hayes on the scoring charts, and duly knocked them down in a free-scoring first quarter. Durant finished with 31 points to lead the Phoenix scoring, taking his career tally to 27,331 points.

The Indiana Pacers beat the Atlanta Hawks 157-152 in a rollicking shootout to also reach the knockout stages.

Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton, who said this week the new tournament gave “more juice” to early season games, scored 22 of his 37 points in the third quarter as the Pacers erased a 20-point first-half deficit.

In the fourth quarter it was Buddy Hield who stepped up, scoring 13 of his 24 points as the