NEW YORK — LeBron James moved within 89 points of breaking the NBA’s career scoring record and climbed into fourth place on the assists list, finishing with a triple-double in his return to Madison Square Garden as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the New York Knicks 129-123 in overtime Tuesday night.
James had 28 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, with the points giving him 38,299 for his career. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the leader with 38,387.
But the 38-year-old James’ game has always been about more than scoring, as he proved again Tuesday with his first triple-double of the season. He fed Dennis Schroder for a 3-pointer that snapped a 118-all tie with 3:13 remaining, grabbed his 10th rebound later in the extra period and then powered to the basket for a 127-121 lead with 19 seconds to go.
He had earlier moved ahead of Mark Jackson and then Steve Nash into fourth place on the assists list during his first game at Madison Square Garden in three years.
Anthony Davis added 27 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who had dropped two straight to open their trip. Both James and Davis had sat out their loss Monday night in Brooklyn.
Jalen Brunson scored 37 points for New York. Julius Randle had 23 points and 12 rebounds.
NUGGETS 122, PELICANS 113
DENVER — Jamal Murray scored 32 points, Nikola Jokic had his 16th triple-double of the season and Denver held off reeling New Orleans.
Jokic finished with 26 points, 18 rebounds and 15 assists as the Western Conference leaders improved to 16-0 when Jokic has a triple-double. Murray made a season-high seven 3-pointers.
CJ McCollum and Herbert Jones each scored 21 points for the Pelicans. They have dropped nine straight games to finish 3-13 in January.
Part of the reason for the slide has been the absence of standout Zion Williamson, who has missed 15 straight games with a hamstring injury.
BUCKS 124, HORNETS 115
MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points and 18 rebounds and Milwaukee beat Charlotte to win its fifth straight and avenge one of its most embarrassing losses of the season.
The Bucks withstood a triple-double from Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball, who had 27 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
Charlotte (16-36) entered the night with the fourth-worst record in the NBA, but the Hornets won 138-109 at Milwaukee on Jan. 6 to hand the Bucks their second-most lopsided loss of the season.
HEAT 100, CAVALIERS 97
CLEVELAND — Jimmy Butler scored 23 points, Bam Adebayo added 18 points and 11 rebounds and Miami beat Cleveland.
Caleb Martin scored 18 points and matched his career high with 10 rebounds, and Tyler Herro also had 18 points for the Heat. They moved within 1 1/2 games of the fifth-place Cavs in the Eastern Conference standings.
Evan Mobley scored 19 points for Cleveland.
CLIPPERS 108, BULLS 103
CHICAGO — Kawhi Leonard scored 33 points, Norman Powell added 27 and Los Angeles beat Chicago for its sixth victory in seven games.
Paul George added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Clippers.
Nikola Vucevic had 23 points and 14 rebounds for Chicago. (AP)