LOS ANGELES (AFP) - NBA superstar LeBron James became the highest scoring player in combined regular season and playoff history, surpassing Los Angeles Lakers icon Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Saturday night (Feb 12).

James came into Saturday's game against the Golden State Warriors needing 19 points to pass Abdul-Jabbar for most combined regular season and playoff points.

Abdul-Jabbar finished his Hall of Fame career with 44,149 points, including 38,387 in the regular season and 5,762 in the postseason.

James drained a three-pointer less than five minutes into the third quarter on Saturday for his 21st point of the game and a total of 44,152 which vaulted him past Abdul-Jabbar.

He finished the game with 26 points, but missed a key last-second free throw as the Lakers lost 117-115 to the Warriors.

James now sits No. 3 on the all-time regular season scoring list with 36,526 points and No. 1 on the all-time postseason scoring list with 7,657 points.

He is fewer than 500 points from passing Karl Malone for No. 2 on the regular season scoring list. He passed Michael Jordan for No. 1 on the all-time playoff scoring list in 2017.

James also has scored 25 points or more in 22 straight games, which is the longest such streak of his career.