LeBron James breaks another Kareem Abdul-Jabbar record in Lakers’ loss to Nuggets

DENVER — On a night when LeBron James made more NBA history, the Lakers didn’t match the highs of their 41-year-old star’s record-setting night.

For most of Thursday night’s 120-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets, they looked disjointed, never leading, little semblance of the team that had won three straight or the group that rallied for a gritty victory against New Orleans on Tuesday.

If these are the Lakers – who will take a redeye flight back to Los Angeles to complete a back-to-back set against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night – then a March schedule packed with playoff-caliber challenges could prove long and tiresome. The short-handed Nuggets (39-24), playing without injured rotation players Peyton Watson, Aaron Gordon and Cam Johnson, thoroughly handled the Lakers early and staved them off late despite Luka Doncic’s 27-point performance.

The loss snapped the Lakers’ three-game win streak on a night when James passed Lakers icon Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to set the NBA record for career regular-season field goals.

The Lakers (37-25) had a chance to take a late lead, cutting the Nuggets’ advantage to two points after a Rui Hachimura layup, and to one with 2:05 remaining after Austin Reaves split a pair of free throws. But the Nuggets did what the Lakers couldn’t when it mattered most – they held strong and replenished. Nikola Jokic, who scored 28 points in a triple-double effort (adding 13 assists and 12 rebounds) made a pair of jumpers to push Denver’s lead to five points as Lakers guard Marcus Smart missed two 3-point attempts that would have tied the score in the final 90 seconds.

“It’s very frustrating, it’s very frustrating,” Smart said.

Smart, who finished with nine points in 32 minutes, added later in his press conference: “Probably a month ago, I’d probably say we’d definitely come out of here losing by 30 and not having a chance at the end.”

The Lakers – who are 14-19 against teams that are .500 or better – got close to taking a lead in the third quarter as well, using a 13-4 run to get within 82-78 thanks to 3-pointers from Hachimura and Smart (who shot a combined 7 for 11 from behind the arc as a part of the team’s 42% showing from deep) and a layup from Austin Reaves.

Hachimura (16 points) missed an open layup, in competition with just the rim. James airballed an open 3-point look. The pair of gaffes came during a three-possession stretch in the third quarter as the Nuggets again created separation. It was one of those nights for the Lakers.

Denver scored the first 11 points of the game, forcing Lakers coach JJ Redick to call an early timeout. The Nuggets’ lead reached 13 points in the first quarter – while they shot 50% from the field and 3-point range – behind All-Star guard Jamal Murray. Murray scored nine of his 28 points in the first and Denver built a 33-23 lead.

“Obviously the start was was terrible,” said Doncic, who added 11 rebounds and seven assists. “But after that, you know, we got down double digits multiple times and came back, had a chance to win it. It just didn’t go.”

Despite the Lakers’ early struggles, James reached his milestone late in the first quarter on his third basket of the night. With 12.3 seconds remaining in the period, James worked on Nuggets forward Zeke Nnaji in the paint. After six dribbles, forcing Nnaji backward into the paint, James turned and made one of his trademark fadeaway jumpers to break a tie with Abdul-Jabbar.

Another record set! The King passes Cap for most buckets made in NBA history!!! #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/jkUGUE9pVD

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 6, 2026

“It’s one of my patented shots,” said James, who finished the game with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go with eight assists and five rebounds. “It’s something I’ve worked on throughout my career. So, to be able to have that ability to make that shot is pretty cool.”

With his 15,838 field goals, James surpassed a mark that had stood since Abdul-Jabbar’s retirement at the end of the 1988-89 season. More than three years ago, James broke Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA record for career points.

“At the end of the day, just to be able to link my name to being mentioned with some of the greatest to ever play this game has always been humbling and a pretty cool thing,” said James, who suffered a left elbow injury late in the fourth quarter which he called a “super intense” funny bone situation.

“I grew up watching, reading [about], idolizing a lot of the greats and if I ever was able to be part of the NBA, I wanted to put myself in position that I can be named with some of the greats by doing something right. So, it’s pretty cool.”

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Deandre Ayton played 4½ minutes in the first quarter (team-low negative-13 in the plus-minus), but exited for Jaxson Hayes immediately after. After Hayes – who scored 19 points on a team-best 8-of-10 shooting in 27 minutes on Thursday – started the second half, and Ayton did not return to the bench, the team announced that Ayton exited with a knee injury and would not return.

“I’m always (ready) – that’s my job,” Hayes said when asked if he would be ready to start if Ayton has a prolonged absence. “That’s what they pay me to do – is stay ready. Even if I wasn’t in the rotation they pay me to stay ready. That’s all an NBA players’ job is – just stay ready and get better every day and I’m gonna just do whatever the team needs me to do tomorrow.”

Redick added that he’s “very confident” in Hayes’ ability to start should the Lakers need him to.

Jokic, playing against just one true Lakers center with Maxi Kleber sitting out with back soreness, finished with nine turnovers, but he helped feed Murray (8-for-17 shooting, 5 for 9 from 3-point range) all night. Guard Julian Strawther added 18 points to help Denver stay a step ahead of the Lakers in the tightly packed Western Conference standings.

DONCIC PICKS UP 15th TECHNICAL FOUL

Before Thursday’s game, Redick said Doncic was “trying” to be wary about a looming suspension should the Slovenian star reach 16 technical fouls this season. He picked up his 14th on Tuesday night, and with 5:43 to go in the second quarter on Thursday, Doncic earned his 15th when officials heard him “using profanity directed toward a referee,” according to a pool report conducted by local media after the game.

Doncic said he heard three players “say” the same thing he was told caused official Dedric Taylor to call the technical foul on him on Thursday, none of which resulted in a technical, he added.

“That’s my problem, you know, I was trying not to talk at all,” Doncic said. “This is the first thing I said (in the game). No warning or nothing.”

When asked if he would commit to not committing another technical foul, Doncic said he couldn’t make any promises but inferred that the goal is to avoid a technical foul for the rest of the season.

“We’ll see,” said Doncic, who has had multiple 15-technical foul seasons. “Can’t predict the future.”