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Morning Dunk: LeBron Hits 39,000 Points

Nick Holz Published on: Nov 22, 2023 9:02 AM ET

Welcome to another slam dunk edition of The Morning Dunk, where we bring you the hottest NBA action right to your breakfast table. The NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament returned to court last night. Let’s hop into all the action.

LeBron Makes History

LeBron James took another step toward G.O.A.T. contention Tuesday by surpassing the 39,000-point mark. With a slick jumper, LeBron knocked down the three and hit the historic mark, reminding everyone he's still one of the best scorers who ever lived.

The Lakers challenged the Jazz, who entered the evening as losers of 17 straight road games against teams with a winning record. 

You can make that 18 consecutive road L's, as the Lakers star power proved to be too much for the young Jazz squad to overcome. Anthony Davis and James created some sweet music on the court as they combined for 43 points.  

Lebron is a complete anomaly in his 21st season, as the Lakers star entered Tuesday night averaging 26.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.5 steals on 58.6% shooting. The King’s career entered unprecedented territory long ago, but his ability to dominate the NBA at age 38 is truly remarkable.

Incredibly, Lebron has now played against nine father-son duos in his NBA career: Kenyon & KJ Martin, Gary Trent Jr and Sr, Gary Payton Sr and II, Rick Brunson and Jalen Brunson, Glenn Robinson Jr and III, Adrian Griffin Sr and Jr, Glen Rice Sr and Jr, Jabari Smith Sr and Jr, and Samaki and Jabari Walker. Yeesh. 

The only question that remains in the Chosen One’s extraordinary career is whether or not he’ll stick around to play with Bronny. If he can keep this up, you need to look out for the Lakers at +1000 to win the West.

A Scoring Extravaganza in Atlanta

Bogdan Bogdanovic raced out to early 22 points while Trae Young dropped 10 points and six assists in the first half. If you blinked, you'd miss half a dozen buckets, it seemed.

Pacers-Hawks tipped off with the highest total for an NBA game since 1995.  The 252.5 total was apt as the teams wrapped up with 309 combined points. Wow. It was the Pacers who pulled ahead 157-152.

The betting trends forced sportsbooks’ hands as Indiana has now gone over the total in all six of their last road games, and 12 of the Pacers' 13 contests this season. The OVER has also now hit in 12 of the last 13 Hawks home games. Indiana also tops the charts in scoring this year, putting up 125.7 points per game. 

 

Both teams were on fire, lighting up the basket with an extravaganza of offensive basketball. With the NBA’s 26th and 21st defensive ratings respectively, neither one of these squads is interested in playing hard on the less glamorous end. If nothing else, this Pacers-Hawks contest was a thrilling reminder of how the modern NBA has evolved into a fast-paced, high-scoring spectacle. 

Cavs & Sixers Rock Out in an East Coast Rumble

Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland and the shorthanded Cleveland Cavaliers jumped to a 12-point halftime lead over the Philadelphia 76ers last night. And the game remained close until the dying minutes.

Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey combined for 62 points, but the Sixers still fell in overtime, dropping their record to 10-4 on the year.

Nick Nurse has started to work the pieces from the James Harden trade, namely Nic Batum and Robert Covington into the rotation as he starts the search for his most cohesive unit. Philadelphia is a work in progress on the court, but a team to watch in the betting world. The Sixers climbed to 11-3 ATS on the year despite the loss. 

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