CLEVELAND -- Cleveland Cavaliers small forward LeBron James may be in his 15th NBA season, but there is no sign of slowing down for the 33-year old.
James finished off his 14th triple-double of the year in Tuesday’s 129-107 victory over the Phoenix Suns at the Talking Stick Resort Arena, and in the process, set a new career-high for triple-doubles in a single season.
“You just say I’m like fine wine,” James said with a smile. “I get better with age. That’s what it says. More possessions my ass (laughs). What are you talking about? What are you talking about? I’m getting better with age. That’s what it’s saying.”
James did not look like someone playing in the 67th game of the season.
James converted seven of his 14 field goal attempts and made good on 13 of his 15 free-throw tries en route to a game-high 28 points to go along with 13 rebounds, 11 assists, three steals and two blocked shots over 33 minutes of action.
“I think I was just playing in all three facets and more, and I was able to get a charge as well, pick up a couple blocks, couple steals, just being around the court and being reliable to my teammates,” James said.
“For me to be able to clean glass, give my guys good looks, where they’re able to just catch and shoot or catch and lay it up, they make it a lot easier for me for sure. With the scoring, I just try to be aggressive, and I got to the free-throw line and was able to knock those down too.”
The 13-for-15 showing from the free-throw line was a single-game season-high in both makes and tries for James, and marked just the 11th time he got at least 10 attempts from the charity stripe this season.
Including 10-of-12 and 10-of-10 showings against the Philadelphia 76ers and Utah Jazz respectively back in December, James has made 10 or more free throws in a game just three times this season.
“It felt good to go to the free-throw line consistently, finally,” James said.
“I went up there and knocked them out, and I mean I don’t know if it was a D-3 or a technical, I even took one of those too, knocked it down and came back and missed two straight. That killed me, but other than that, it was a good night for me getting to the line.”
Now in his 11th season with the Cavaliers, James, a product of Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, is averaging 26.48 points, 8.3 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 0.9 blocks and 1.48 steals over 36.47 minutes per game in 67 starts for the Cavaliers (39-28).
“I think everyone benefits from playing with him,” shooting guard Kyle Korver said. “He commands a lot of attention, sees the whole floor. Obviously, he’s always reading what my man’s doing, able to hit me in my spots when I’m open. You know, he makes everybody better.”
