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The Lakers star knew his historic run of scoring in double figures was threatened. When it mattered most, though, it was not his focus.

The smart move was to pass the rock – which is exactly what he did. Following that play, the legendary streak came to an end.

James's staggering streak of 1,297 consecutive NBA regular season games with 10+ points ended during a recent game, as basketball's greatest scorer was limited to a mere eight points in the Los Angeles Lakers' 123-120 win against the Toronto Raptors. He made the clutch helper, feeding teammate Rui Hachimura to hit a three-pointer to win the game.

“Zero,” James replied in response about the streak ending. “The team got the victory.”

A Selfless Choice Delivers Victory

He might have sought to clinch the game – while also extending his record – with the last shot, but he chose to pass to Hachimura in the left corner. Hachimura sank it, with LeBron exulted with his hands in the air.

You have to play basketball the right way. Always make the smart play,” James noted. That is how I operate. That is the way I was instructed to play. That's what I've done my whole career.”

He is very conscious of how many points he's scored at all times,” commented Lakers coach the coach. He acted just as he has throughout his career.”

The Run's End Game

He returned to the game for the final time at just over five minutes left, the result along with the historic run both hanging in the balance. He had a mere six points on 3-of-15 shooting at that juncture.

He got a bucket with 1:46 left to knot the score then missed a shot with one minute to go which could have gotten him to ten points.

He avoided taking a subsequent shot – but could have. A teammate passed him the ball in the waning seconds, but James decided to make the extra pass instead of shooting.

“The basketball gods, if you approach it correctly, they often bless you,” Redick stated.

The History of a Monumental Record

James's streak commenced over eighteen years ago. It was, by far the longest streak of its kind in NBA history: Michael Jordan had 866 straight double-digit scoring games, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 787 such games, and The Mailman recorded at 575.

He is such a pass-first superstar,” remarked Lakers center Jake LaRavia.

“He’s just playing the sport. He had the opportunity but due to his nature as a player and his character as an individual, he made the team play, found Rui and claimed the victory.”

Reaching double digits had long been an afterthought long before the start of fourth quarters. Throughout his run, he had reached the 10-point mark entering the fourth over twelve hundred times coming into the contest.

But two of those rare single-digit games after three periods took place recently: He recorded nine points going into the fourth versus the Mavericks on 28 November, and then had six points before the fourth quarter versus the Suns earlier in the week.

He succeeded in extend the streak in the Phoenix game. The very next outing, it concluded – yet he was celebrating all the same.

“I always just make the best play. That is instinctive, no matter what,” James said. “You make the unselfish play, the sports deities consistently returning the favor.”