NBA: James, Davis lead Lakers rally, two ejected as Cavs down Grizzlies

LOS ANGELES – LeBron James is nearly there, but not before he had to do the dirty work to help the Los Angeles Lakers through a frantic fourth-quarter rally on Thursday night and clinch a narrow 112-111 road victory over the Indiana Pacers.

The superstar forward continued to close in on the National Basketball Association’s all-time scoring record in the thrilling win in which the Lakers erased a 14-point deficit late in the game.

James, who entered the clash needing 89 points to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the league’s all-time scorer, put up 26 points.

He now needs 63 to surpass Abdul-Jabbar, who has held the record of 38,387, since before James was born.

The Lakers had trailed all night before James’ three-pointer gave them their first lead of the contest with 2min 35sec to play.

Teammate Anthony Davis put them up 112-111 with 35.3sec remaining and followed up with a big block on Tyrese Haliburton as Los Angeles escaped with the victory.

“I just understood my game was needed more on the interior tonight,” James, 38, said on ESPN.

“Needed to get some rebounds, (also) need to get some baskets in there and I felt like we were attacking, especially in the fourth quarter.”

The Lakers looked headed for another disappointing defeat until a 21-10 run to open the fourth quarter.

Davis led the team with 31 points and 14 rebounds.

Haliburton, back in action after a three-week injury absence, led the Pacers with 26 points and 12 assists.

But his drive to the basket with 16.5sec left was thwarted by Davis, who swatted the ball away.

“I just tried to stay on his body and make him shoot over the top,” Davis said.

“I saw when he left the ground, he had to shoot it so I just timed it.”

Lakers coach Darvin Ham was not surprised, saying that when Davis is playing pain-free he is “one of the more elite defenders in our league”.

But there is no doubt the spotlight is now on James.

Averaging more than 30 points per game, he is likely to break Abdul-Jabbar’s mark some time next week.

The Lakers close out their road trip on Saturday at New Orleans then host Oklahoma City on Tuesday and the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday.

Abdul-Jabbar will likely be in the stands for the next two Lakers home games, a source close to the Lakers great told Reuters on Thursday.

James said a 63-point game was not out of the question, although he made no promises or predictions for Saturday.

Whenever the record does fall, he is acutely aware of the significance.

“I grew up being a historian of all sports,” James said, adding that while Abdul-Jabbar’s total has not been a number that stuck in his head, “I know it’s been Kareem my whole life”.

“It’s pretty cool,” he added of a record he likened in importance to the career home-run record in baseball.

“I think it’s one of the greatest records in sports in general. It’s one of those records you don’t ever think will be broken.”

Elsewhere, things turned ugly in Cleveland when Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell and Memphis Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks were ejected after brawling in the third quarter of the hosts’ 128-113 victory.

Mitchell was enraged when Brooks, sprawled on the court after missing a shot, flung a hand up and hit him in the groin.

He threw the ball at Brooks, shoved him and finally wrestled him to the floor before both players were restrained.

Mitchell, who was enduring a tough night in which he connected on two of 11 shots from the floor, was cheered as he departed for the locker room.

Darius Garland picked up the slack, scoring 32 points and handing out 11 assists for Cleveland.

Desmond Bane scored 25 points for Memphis and Ja Morant added 24, but the Grizzlies lost for the seventh time in eight games. AFP