WASHINGTON — A free throw in Boston. A jumper in Detroit. A Kobe Bryant-inspired dunk in Los Angeles. A banked-in 3-pointer in Toronto.
Over 19 seasons, these individual moments have been opportunities to celebrate LeBron James and his mostly unmatched basketball skills.
They were just slices of the story — scoring was never the complete way to judge him anyway. But over time, these points added up — the alley-oop in Portland, the up-and-under in San Antonio, the step-back in Charlotte and the layup in Chicago.
On Saturday, it was a thundering dunk, a driving layup, a handful of 3-pointers and, finally, a cutting layup that pushed James up the NBA's all-time scorer leaderboard to No. 2, trailing only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
The historic basket came midway into the second quarter of the Lakers' 127-119 loss to the Washington Wizards. Stanley Johnson found James on a backdoor cut into the paint for a right-handed layup for his 36,930th career points.
James had tied Karl Malone, the previous No. 2 scorer, thanks to a trio of 3-pointers in quick succession earlier in the quarter.
At the next dead ball after the go-ahead basket, the Wizards acknowledged the accomplishment on the scoreboard. As the crowd rose to its feet for an ovation, James finally acknowledged the moment, one hand in the air as his former teammate, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, congratulated him.
Caldwell-Pope also was on the court in 2019 when James passed Michael Jordan for fourth place in Los Angeles and in 2020 when he passed Bryant for third all time in Philadelphia.
James reached second place in scoring in his 1,363rd game. Malone, who scored his finals points as a member of the Lakers, had 36,928 points in 1,476 games.
Like so many of James' milestones this season, it came without the Lakers getting a win. He scored 38 points and Russell Westbrook added 22, but the Lakers' defense late failed them.
James now trails Abdul-Jabbar by 1,440 points to equal his all-time scoring record of 38,387.
On Saturday, James was a game-time decision to play. He suited up on the second night of a back-to-back once his lingering knee swelling wasn't a problem.
He started with a put-back and added points on a slick driving reverse and thundering one-handed dunk. He got hot from deep and hit back-to-back triples, forcing the Wizards into a timeout.
And while James was hot, the Lakers' offense, in total, continued to hum after an impressive overtime win in Toronto on Friday night. It's why, despite the Lakers' residency deep below .500, coach Frank Vogel believes his team has a better shot than most might give it.
After winning on the road Friday for the first time since Jan. 25, a victory Saturday would have given the Lakers their first winning streak they won four straight from Dec. 31 to Jan. 7.
Since, then the Lakers are 9-22, a stretch that has pushed them to the very bottom of the Western Conference playoff picture.
"I don't like the record at all. That's not a fun thing to be a part of, losing this much. But I think the outside perception of our direction and what we have, and what our chances are this year, are different than what we feel inside. I do believe that. I do believe," Vogel said before Saturday's game. "We feel like we're at least going to have an opportunity in the play-in to play one game or two games to get us in a seven-game series. At that time, hopefully we can be playing our best basketball and getting Anthony Davis back. And we feel like we can win those two games and put ourselves in position to be in a seven-game series. Again, if we continue to grow and play our best basketball down the stretch, we have belief in what we can do this year."
The Lakers led by as many as 16 points, withstanding every push from the Wizards, who were without Kyle Kuzma, until a Kristaps Porzingis three-point play gave Washington its first lead at 107-106.
Porzingis continued to torture the Lakers' smaller lineups that have helped fuel James' scoring binge this season. The big man scored 16 points in the fourth quarter, including a game-sealing 3, leading to a helpless shrug from James.
It also spoiled an efficient night for Westbrook against his former team, which honored him with a tribute video during the game's first timeout. Westbrook needed only 15 shots to score his 22 points, which also included a pair of 3s.
Still, the Lakers will need Davis to help lift a defense that let them down and snuffed out another chance at momentum. Davis went through on-court shooting drills again before the game, as he has all week, in his recovery from a foot injury.
The Lakers close a four-game trip Monday night in Cleveland.
