James began his 23rd NBA season with a home win over the Lakers, as Curry’s Warriors lost to the Orlando Magic despite scoring 34 points.
Published November 19, 2025
LeBron James broke the NBA season record in his 23rd season with the Los Angeles Lakers after missing almost the entire first month of the season due to sciatica.
The 40-year-old superstar, a four-time NBA champion and four-time NBA Most Valuable Player award winner, missed the Lakers’ first 14 games until Tuesday at home against the Utah Jazz.
The Lakers rallied to a 140-126 victory over the visiting Jazz.
James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, practiced with the Lakers on Monday and was not sore or sore after his first game-style workout with the club since last season’s playoffs.
This sets him up to start against the Jazz, tying him with Vince Carter for the most career seasons in NBA history.
The home crowd cheered as James was introduced, and moments later, as the game tipped off, James made history.
👑Season 23 for the King👑 pic.twitter.com/SF09U3pZxe
— NBA (@NBA) November 19, 2025
Meanwhile, the Detroit Pistons won 120-112 in Atlanta, extending their longest winning streak since 2008 to 11 games and ending the Hawks’ winning streak at five games.
Cade Cunningham had 25 points and 10 assists, and Jalen Duren had 24 points and eight rebounds for the Pistons, who lead the Eastern Conference with a 13-2 record.
Jalen Johnson had 25 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for Atlanta (9-6).
In Brooklyn, Jaylen Brown had 29 points, Peyton Pritchard had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics defeated the Nets 113-99.
Desmond Bane scored 23 points and backup Anthony Black added 21 points as the Orlando Magic defeated the visiting Golden State Warriors 121-113.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors (9-7) with 34 points, and Jimmy Butler added 33 points in the loss.
In San Antonio, De’Aaron Fox scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half and Harrison Barnes added 23 points to lead the host Spurs to a 111-101 win over Memphis.
The Spurs (10-4) were without star big man Victor Wembaneyama with a left calf strain, guard Stephon Castle was out with a left hip flexor strain and Memphis star guard Ja Morant was sidelined with a right calf strain.
“We’re going to do this as a collective. There’s no one to replace Vic,” Burns said. “We’re just trying to find ways to win, ways to share the ball, ways to move the ball. That’s what we do.”
Barnes scored the first seven points in an 11-0 game-ending run to secure the victory.
“Harrison Barnes got us through this, and that’s exactly what a veterinarian does,” Fox said. “It felt great to win the game with all of our guys.
“We have a team and we know that if one goes down, we can have some guys step up. Just because one goes down, no one is going to take that role.”
