LeBron James’ historic 18-year streak comes to a shocking end on selfless buzzer-beater

It had to end eventually.

In true LeBron James fashion, his historic 1,297-game streak of scoring double-digit points ended with him making the right basketball play above all else.

Sitting on 8 points with the game tied between the Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors, James had the ball in his hands.

He could have taken the game-winning shot himself and extended his streak.

Instead, James got the ball with four seconds left, drove to the basket, collapsed the defense, and swung a perfect pass to a wide-open Rui Hachimura.

With 1.7 left on the clock, Hachimura caught it and shot it.

He drained it as the buzzer sounded, and the purple-and-gold celebration ensued.

James’ streak, which began on January 6, 2007, came to a fitting end, true to form for the all-time great.

The 40-year-old has built a career on always making the right play, sometimes to his own detriment and occasionally inviting criticism in doing so.

But that’s also part of his greatness, and it was on full display Thursday evening in Toronto.

“Bron told me right before this, ‘I got you. It’s going to come to you,'” Hachimura said in an on-court interview after the game.

“LeBron is acutely aware of how many points he has at that point,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “He did it like he’s done so many times.”

Getty

Getty

Sitting at his locker after the game in Toronto, James didn’t seem to mind that his streak came to an end.

All he cared about was that the Lakers got the win.

“You always make the right play,” James said

“That’s just been my M.O. That’s how I was taught the game. I’ve done that my whole career. There’s not even one second guessing that.

“Once they doubled AR and the ball got swung to me, I know it’s a numbers game. We’ve got a 4-on-3 advantage. I was just trying to put the ball on time, on target in Rui’s socket, in his shot pocket, and he knocked it down.”

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