NBA Game Notes (Feb. 7, 2023)

Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on February 7, 2023.

Scoring King

The Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James made a 14-foot turnaround fadeaway with 10.9 seconds remaining in the third quarter to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Abdul-Jabbar had held the record since April 5, 1984, a period of 14,187 days. James had yet to be born when Abdul-Jabbar broke Wilt Chamberlain’s scoring mark.

Starting with the end of the NBA’s first season (1946-47), James is the seventh different player to hold the title of “scoring king”:

• Joe Fulks

• George Mikan (1952-53)

• Dolph Schayes (1957-58)

• Bob Pettit (1963-64)

• Wilt Chamberlain (1965-66)

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1983-84)

• LeBron James (2022-23)

James finished with a game-high 38 points, adding seven rebounds and three steals. James shot 13-20 from the field — including 4-6 from 3-point range — and made eight of his 10 free throws.

James now has 531 career 30-point games, the second-most such games in NBA history:

• 562 — Michael Jordan

• 531 — LeBron James

• 515 — Wilt Chamberlain

• 435 — Karl Malone

• 431 — Kobe Bryant

While James got the accolades, the Thunder got the win, opening up a 15-point first-half lead before holding on for a 133-130 victory. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 30 points and eight assists, shooting 9-17 from the field and 11-12 from the free throw line. It’s the 32nd time Gilgeous-Alexander has scored at least 30 points in a game this season, the second-most such games in the NBA (Luka Doncic, 35).