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LeBron James was aware his historic run of putting up 10+ points was in danger. When it mattered most, however, he wasn't bothered.

The smart move involved passing the ball – which is exactly what he did. Following that play, the legendary streak finished.

James's staggering streak of 1,297 consecutive NBA regular season double-digit scoring performances ended this past Thursday, as basketball's greatest scorer had only a mere eight points in the Lakers' 123-120 victory over the Toronto Raptors. He provided the game-winning assist, finding teammate Rui Hachimura to knock down a triple as time expired.

“Zero,” James said in response on the record concluding. “We won.”

An Unselfish Choice Seals the Win

LeBron had the chance to attempted to win the contest – and extended his record – with the last shot, but he chose to pass to his teammate in the left corner. Hachimura sank it, with LeBron celebrated with his hands in the air.

It's about playing basketball correctly. You always make the smart play,” James explained. That has always been my M.O.. It's how I was instructed to play. I’ve done that for two decades.”

James is fully cognizant of his point total he's scored at all times,” commented Lakers coach JJ Redick. He acted just as he has countless times.”

The Streak's End Game

LeBron checked back into the contest one last time with 5:23 remaining, the result and his personal record up for grabs. He had six points from 3-of-15 shooting then.

He managed a basket at under two minutes remaining to tie the game and missed a 14-footer at 1:01 left that might have pushed him to double digits.

He passed up another shot – even though he had a chance. A teammate gave James the ball in the waning seconds, however, James chose to make the pass instead.

The basketball deities, if you approach it correctly, they often reward you,” the coach concluded.

The History of an Unparalleled Streak

The record started back in January 2007. It was, by far the most extended double-digit streak in professional basketball: MJ had 866 consecutive double-digit scoring games, Kareem had 787 such games, and Karl Malone had the fourth-longest run with 575.

He is such a team-oriented player,” remarked teammate Jake LaRavia.

He focuses on playing hoops. He had the opportunity but because of his nature as a player and his character off the court, he chose the team play, passed it to Rui and we won the game.”

Scoring in double figures was usually a guarantee long before the start of fourth quarters. Over the course of the record, he had achieved ten points entering the fourth 1,266 times prior to Thursday.

But two such single-digit games through three quarters had happened in the last week: He had nine going into the fourth versus the Mavericks last week, then had six points before the fourth quarter against Phoenix on Monday night.

He succeeded in preserve the record against the Suns. One game later, it was over – yet he was celebrating regardless.

My focus is to make the best play. That comes naturally, no matter what,” James affirmed. If you make the right play, the game gods are always giving back to me.”