LeBron becomes youngest to reach 24,000 points as Cavaliers hold off Clippers
LeBron James became the youngest NBA player in history to reach 24,000 points during Friday night's Cavaliers' victory in Los Angeles over the Clippers. He did it by throwing his game back a little, playing significant fourth-quarter minutes at the power-forward spot in Cleveland's 126-121 win.
James reached the milestone at 30 years and 17 days. He broke the record set by Kobe Bryant, who was 31 years and 75 days old when he set the mark.
LeBron averaging 33.7 pts in 3 games since returning from injury, tells @FOXSportsOH: "We dug down deep, fooled around and swept LA trip."
— Sam Amico (@SamAmicoFSO) January 17, 2015
With Kevin Love sidelined with back spasms, James added 11 rebounds to go with 32 points, and had seven assists and three steals. He did a little bit of everything, even guarding Blake Griffin in the fourth. Griffin finished with 34 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out in the final minute.
Related: VIDEO: Blake Griffin's crazy circus shot
Kyrie Irving paced all scorers with 37 points on 12-of-18 shooting, while Tristan Thompson had a season-high 24 points, missing only two of his 12 field-goal attempts, and grabbing a team-high 12 boards.
Austin Rivers made his Clippers debut for his father Doc, playing 12 minutes, going 0-for-4 from the field and finishing a minus-18.
"He struggled tonight," said Doc about his son.
Chris Paul flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 15 points, 14 assists, and eight rebounds.