LeBron James Praised for Historic Performance in Lakers' Loss to Clippers

LeBron James may not have been in a celebratory mood after the Los Angeles Lakers' 133-115 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night, but the four-time NBA MVP did make history with 46 points on 16-of-29 shooting from the field.

Even though he's struggled with his three-point shot for most of the season, James found his stroke from behind the arc with a career-high nine threes against the Clippers.

In addition to his own personal milestone in the game, James made NBA history by becoming the first player ever to score at least 40 points against all 30 teams. He also extended his streak of 20-point games to 29, 10 more than anyone else right now.

The Lakers continue to scuffle as they look to get back into the playoff mix in the Western Conference. Despite their struggles as a team, fans had nothing but praise for what James is doing 20 years into his career.

James is now within 177 points of tying Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the NBA's all-time scoring list. If he maintains his current scoring average of 30.2 points per game, he will have an opportunity to move into the top spot on Feb. 4 against the New Orleans Pelicans.

More important to the Lakers' playoff interest, though, is reinforcements are coming. ESPN's Dave McMenamin reported after the loss that Anthony Davis is expected to return for Wednesday's game against the San Antonio Spurs.

The Lakers are 13th in the Western Conference with a 22-26 record. They have gone a respectable 10-10 in 20 games without Davis. Getting him back with James playing at this level should make them much better going forward as they try to challenge for a playoff spot.