LeBron James eclipsed another Michael Jordan record on Wednesday night, surpassing His Airness for the most 30-point games in NBA playoff history.
CLEVELAND — LeBron James passed Michael Jordan for the most 30-point games in NBA playoff history by scoring 33 points in the Cleveland Cavaliers ‘ 110-102 Game 3 Finals loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.
James set the mark by hitting a 3-pointer with 1 minute, 57 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to draw the Cavs within one point, at 101-100.
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It was the closest they would get for the rest of the night.
James has hit the 30-point mark 110 times out of the 238 career playoff games he has suited up. Jordan had 109 30-point games in the 179 career playoff games he competed in.
Last spring, James passed Jordan for first place in all-time postseason points. Including Wednesday, James has 6,888 career playoff points. Jordan is No. 2 with 5,987. However, Jordan’s 33.4 points per game playoff average eclipses James’ 28.9 points per game mark in the postseason.
James finished with 33 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in Game 3, accounting for his 10th triple-double in the NBA Finals, adding to his all-time record (Magic Johnson is second with eight). It was his fifth 30-point triple-double in the Finals. All other players in Finals history have logged a combined four 30-point triple-doubles.
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James has now registered at least 25 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists in each of his pst 10 Finals games. No other player in Finals history has even done that in two consecutive games.
The 15-year veteran also passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for sole possession of the fourth-most playoff games played in NBA history. Abdul-Jabbar was on hand for Game 3 as a guest of Cavs owner Dan Gilbert to see James break the tie. James historic night was put in jeopardy in the second quarter when he turned his right ankle on a drive to the basket.
« I twisted it pretty good, but I’ll be in the lineup on Friday, » James said.
James ended up playing 47 out of 48 minutes in Game 3.
Wednesday was the 103rd consecutive game the 33-year-old James has played between the regular season and playoffs combined, without taking a game off because of rest or injury. His previous career high for games played in a regular season plus postseason was 100 in 2010-11, when he was 26.
