TORONTO — The King’s reign is over, but the Lakers started a new, more important winning streak.
LeBron James’ 18-year, 1,297-game streak of 10 or more points ended Thursday in the Lakers’ 123-120 win over the Toronto Raptors as the 40-year-old finished with eight points on four-for-17 shooting.
However, James again delivered with his playmaking, sending the assist to Rui Hachimura for a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer. Playing without Luka Doncic, the Lakers (16-5) needed every one of James’ 11 assists to help propel the offense led by Austin Reaves’ 44 points and 10 assists.
James had last scored in single digits on Jan. 5, 2007, when Milwaukee held him to eight points on three-for-13 shooting in 43 minutes. But Cleveland still won that game 95-86 as James had nine assists.
Doncic, the NBA’s leading scorer, missed Thursday’s game because of a personal reason. He and his fiancee are expecting their second child. Coach JJ Redick said the team hopes to get Doncic “back soon, but don’t have a pinpointed day yet.”
After fading into the background of the Lakers’ last loss to the Phoenix Suns on Monday, when he barely extended the streak by scoring four of his 10 points in the fourth quarter of the blowout loss, James came out aggressively Thursday. His nine shots were the second-most on the Lakers by halftime.
But he had only four points. He missed his first six shots, some so badly that they didn’t even hit the rim.
The Lakers still built a nine-point lead by halftime behind Reaves as James had four assists with no turnovers. Against one of the most disruptive defenses in the NBA, Redick preached ball security after the Lakers had 22 turnovers in their loss to the Suns.
The Lakers had 16 assists and five turnovers in the first half.