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The Lakers star knew his monumental run of scoring in double figures was threatened. When it mattered most, though, it didn't concern him.

The right decision meant distributing the ball – and he executed. Following that play, the legendary streak finished.

LeBron's astounding streak of over 1,200 straight regular-season outings scoring at least ten ended on Thursday night, when basketball's greatest scorer was limited to eight total points during the Los Angeles Lakers' close triumph versus Toronto. He delivered the clutch helper, finding Rui Hachimura to knock down a three-point shot at the buzzer.

“Zero,” James stated after being questioned about the streak ending. “The important thing is we won.”

A Team-First Decision Seals the Win

James could have attempted to win the contest – and extended the streak – in the closing seconds, but he chose to pass to Rui in the left corner. Hachimura sank it, and James celebrated triumphantly.

You have to play the game the right way. Always make the right play,” James explained. “That’s just been how I operate. It's how I learned the game. I've played that way for two decades.”

James is fully cognizant of how many points he's scored during a game,” stated the team's head coach the coach. “He did it just as he has countless times.”

The Record's Final Moments

LeBron checked back into the game for the final time with just over five minutes left, the win and the streak both hanging in the balance. His tally was a mere six points on 3-of-15 shooting by that point.

He got a bucket at under two minutes remaining to level the contest but then missed a shot with one minute to go which could have taken him into double figures.

He passed up a subsequent shot – but could have. Austin Reaves gave James the ball with a few seconds left, yet LeBron decided to dish it off instead.

“The basketball gods, when you play it the proper way, they often repay you,” Redick added.

Reflecting on an Unparalleled Run

The record started over eighteen years ago. It stood as the greatest streak of its kind the league has ever seen: MJ previously held a streak of 866 consecutive games with 10+ points, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recorded 787 such games, and Karl Malone recorded of 575 games.

LeBron is such a pass-first superstar,” said Lakers center a fellow Laker.

“He’s just playing the sport. He could have shot but due to the player he is and just who he is off the court, he executed the team play, passed it to Rui and claimed the victory.”

Scoring in double figures was usually an afterthought well before the final period. During James’s streak, he had reached the 10-point mark by the start of the fourth over twelve hundred times before this game.

Yet two of those unusual games below ten points through three quarters had happened just days before: He recorded nine going into the fourth versus the Mavericks on 28 November, followed by six points going into the fourth against Phoenix earlier in the week.

He succeeded in preserve the record against the Suns. In the following contest, it was over – but he still rejoiced anyway.

My focus is to make the right play. That is instinctive, win, lose or draw,” James declared. If you make the right play, the game gods forever returning the favor.”