The Lakers defeated and eliminated the Pelicans on Dec. 8 to advance to the midseason tournament finals. The Lakers directly played the semifinals into a preseason, not because the Pelicans can't do it, but because the Lakers are too good. It may not be that the Lakers are too good, but that James is too good. The Lakers were chased to 2 points in the second game when James rested Davis to lead the team, and when James came on the court, he directly pulled the score back to double digits, and when he rested, the Lakers were already leading by 30 points, during which the Lakers limited the Pelicans to only 7 points.
James' performance in this game was very amazing, the league's first-man level, less than 23 minutes, 9 of 12 shots, 4 of 4 three-pointers, 8 of 8 free throws, 30 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists, 0 turnovers, plus/minus +36, and multiple milestones were activated in one game.
James hit all three-pointers and made four of them, the second time in his career, the last time was in his rookie season in 2003, 20 years ago. James is the first player in history to have at least 30 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in a single game in 23 minutes. History is the first and the only in history.
James clocked in two and a half quarters, he didn't play for the last 6 minutes of the third quarter, and the halftime stats were: 16 minutes, 7 of 9 shots, 3 of 3 three-pointers, 4 of 4 free throws, 21 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists. It's still a record. It was the 60th time in James' career that he scored at least 20 points in a half while shooting at least 75 percent from the field, the first in NBA history.