LeBron James continues to flash greatness even as career nears end

TORONTO — Tuesday night was LeBron James' 60th game against the Toronto Raptors, the eighth-most against any team and nearly a full NBA season of games against one opponent.

It was his 28th start in Toronto. The thousands of Los Angeles Lakers fans who turned out gave new meaning to the nickname 'LeBronto' when the ovation he received in pre-game introductions matched that for any Raptor.

How many more visits to Scotiabank Arena will there be? Not even James knows.

The 39-year-old superstar is in his 21st season. He was asked about his long-range plans on Sunday night after he shot 9-of-10 from three and dropped 40 points on the Brooklyn Nets.

"I'm on the other side, obviously, of the hill," he said then, making headlines with every word. "So I'm not going to play another 21 years, that's for damn sure. But not very long. I don't know what or when that door will close as far as when I retire, but I don't have much time left."

Chances are he’ll make at least one more trip north. He’s got a player option for next season and the expectation is he’ll either decline that option and negotiate a new deal — most likely with the Lakers — or pick up the option and sign an extension on top of it, that will keep him in Los Angeles. Either way, he’s got a season or two to play at more than $50 million a year and a stated goal to play professionally with his son, USC freshman Bronny James, who is — by most accounts — at least a couple of years away from playing professionally.

So hopefully, Tuesday night wasn’t goodbye.

Whatever the case, as is habit, James delivered for the Lakers and for the Lakers fans who took over Scotiabank Arena en masse for a rare chance to see the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and one of the sports' indisputable greats.

The Lakers handed the Raptors their 14th consecutive loss with their 128-111 win that improved their record to 43-33. The free-falling Raptors dropped to 23-52.

James was worth the price of a ticket as he scored 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting while adding nine assists.

He appreciated the appreciation.

“There’s always been mutual respect and love respect every time I come here and play here,” James said. “Throughout my career they’ve shown me nothing but love, even throughout the battles in the post-season, or whatever the case may be. These fans are always appreciative of myself, and I just try to always give it back to them when I step out on the floor.”

The Lakers are fighting for every game they can get in the Western Conference playoff race. They are firmly in ninth place which would allow them to host the first game of the play-in tournament, likely against the Golden State Warriors. But they entered play Tuesday only 1.5 games out of eighth place, which would give them two cracks in the play-in tournament, with both games played at home.

The Raptors' season is effectively over, sad as it is to say. There was a very nice moment when RJ Barrett was introduced as a starter for the first time since his younger brother Nathan passed away on March 12. The crowd at Scotiabank Arena roared their affection and appreciation for the Mississauga native. Barrett was joined in the starting lineup by Immanuel Quickley, who had missed six games after the passing of his uncle.

Together they gave the Raptors 40 per cent of a starting lineup, which is a significant improvement of where they’ve been most of the past month. But with Scottie Barnes (finger surgery), Jakob Poeltl (finger surgery) and Gary Trent Jr. (rest) all out, the Raptors were still missing three starters as well as reserves Chris Boucher (knee), Jontay Porter (personal) and DJ Carton (ankle).

Barrett’s highlight was when he drove full court, shifted to his left and rose up to dunk over Lakers guard Max Christie and in front of centre Anthony Davis for the Raptors' final bucket of the third quarter. But even with that, the Raptors were trailing 100-79 and there was no comeback to be had as the Lakers pushed their lead to 33 early in the fourth.

Still for Barrett, being on the floor and playing well was a welcome taste of normal after three weeks of heartache.

“For me it just felt good to be back out there just with the guys and playing,” he said. “It definitely helped me feel better. For sure.”

Barrett led the Raptors with 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting while adding six rebounds and six assists. Quickley had 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting while counting six assists.

But James was the focus of the evening.

The win improved James to 44-16 all-time vs. the Raptors, not including the playoffs in which his teams have gone 12-2, as some Raptors fans might remember. Something about him grabbing a beer from a courtside vendor comes to mind? Or pausing to spin the basketball before hitting a three over Serge Ibaka?

But James has had some giant regular-season games too. Twenty years ago last month, he scored what was then a career-high 56 points against the Raptors while playing all 48 minutes in what was ultimately a losing effort by the Cleveland Cavaliers in his second season. There have been a couple of stinkers — a handful of 5-of-17 nights or 8-of-21 outings — but not many. James has shot at least 50 per cent from the floor in 36 of his 60 starts against the Raptors and his career splits against Toronto — 27.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 7.7 assists with a True Shooting percentage of 59.9 — are almost identical to his Hall-of-Fame career marks.

Lakers head coach Darvin Ham is 50 years old and has been retired for 19 years. He played against James in the last two years of his own career and marvels that his star forward is still going strong.

“It’s his consistency,” Ham said when asked about what he’s come to appreciate about coaching James with the Lakers the past two seasons. “He’s consistent with his regimen, his routine and he loves playing the game. I’d like to not play him as many minutes, but he’s out there kicking ass, so I have to leave him on the floor. But it’s pure, genuine enjoyment, this far along in his career… he cherishes each [game] playing with his teammates and getting to go out and compete. That’s never left, his passion.”

James has a YouTube channel’s worth of highlights, though he didn’t likely add to it against the Raptors. Instead it was a steady, heady performance by a superb craftsman against a team that wasn’t at his level. He started the game off with a lob to teammate Anthony Davis for a dunk. He was at his most assertive in the second quarter when he scored eight points on six shots while adding three assists. He had three straight possessions where he used pick-and-roll sets to isolate an over-matched defender — Mouhamadou Gueye twice and Javon Freeman-Liberty another time — to create advantages and score relatively easy lay-ups.

It was a master class. He added nine points in the third quarter as the Lakers put the game away and finished his night with 2:38 gone in the fourth quarter. His final bucket was when he was in the right place at the right time to get a pass from Jaxson Hayes on an offensive rebound. Not all that long ago, James would have taken the available runway and climbed through the air for a highlight-reel worthy smash.

The crowd rose in anticipation, but James settled for a routine lay-up, a concession to the passage of time maybe, but two points all the same.

And then his night was done, the win safely tucked away, another night of excellence in a career defined by them.

“Everybody's trying their best every single night [to stop him],” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “We are fighting as much as we could and he's just so elite. It's amazing to see a player at this age, after 20 years in NBA to play at this high a level, like we never saw anything like it and, you know, we gotta really embrace this moment and to be grateful that we’re living in era of LeBron James and the way he's playing out there. I definitely don't like [when] he's playing against me, but I have a lot of respect for everything he does.”