Miami Heat superstar forward LeBron James has scored a National Basketball League, NBA, season-high 51 points against division arch rival Orlando in a narrow 104-100 road victory over the Magic. It is the eighth 50-point performance of James' eight-year professional career.
The two-time reigning NBA most valuable player scored 23 of Miami's 30 points in the first quarter of Thursday night's contest in central Florida. He also had 11 rebounds and eight assists against Orlando.
LeBron's performance topped the previous NBA season-high single game point total of 47 set last month by Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and rookie Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Miami's victory stretches its winning streak to four games, while Orlando has dropped four of its last six. The Heat has defeated the Magic in two of their three meetings this 2010-2011 season. They meet for a fourth time on March 3.
Thursday night's win moves the Heat to within two-and-a-half games of the Boston Celtics for first place in the Eastern Conference standings about two weeks ahead of the mid-season All-Star break. The 2.03 meters-tall James will be making his seventh career All-Star Game appearance February 20 in Los Angeles.
Some information for this report provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
