LeBron James reached another statistical milestone on Monday as the Cleveland Cavaliers overpowered the Orlando Magic 117-103.
James joined Oscar Robertson as the only other player in NBA history to rank in the top 25 for both scoring and assists after helping teammate Kevin Love to a three-pointer in the second quarter.
The assist pushed James' career total to 6837, moving ahead of Norm Nixon into 25th place. James is also 19th on the all-time scoring list and is expected to pass Reggie Miller in 18th on Wednesday night when the Cavs visit Toronto.
Cleveland were made to work for the victory, Orlando fighting back from 12 points down to lead 42-34 in the second quarter.
But, the Cavaliers clicked into gear with Love pouring on the points as Cleveland took control.
Love reeled off 17 straight during a five-minute burst in the second quarter including a trio of three-pointers. Love finished with 34 points.
Cavs coach David Blatt was left to reflect on James, who only recently became the youngest NBA player to score 25,000 points.
"That gives me chills to even hear that. That's an amazing, amazing accomplishment.
"You're speaking about such rarified air ... all the credit and respect to him for that."
Magic coach Scott Skiles had no doubt about James' place in the pantheon of legends.
"Every time there's a young great player, everybody talks about Michael (Jordan) but, to me, he's always been more like a Magic (Johnson) or an Oscar type player because of his vision.
"That's what makes him so difficult. If you think you're going to give him a steady diet of running and double teaming him, he's going to carve you up."
James was unwilling to enter into a debate about where he stood among the greats.
"I think we get caught up in, in our league too much in trying to compare greats to greats instead of just accepting and acknowledging and saying, 'Wow, these are just great players'.
"When it comes to our sport, we're so eager to say who is better - Oscar or Jordan or LeBron or Kobe (Bryant) or these guys instead of just accepting greatness."
James finished with 15 points and six rebounds, as well as 13 assists while guard JR Smith chipped in with 26 points, his highest tally of the season.
The Cavaliers improve to 11-3 for the season, the best in the Eastern Conference.
The Philadelphia 76ers slumped to their 15th straight defeat since the start of the season - a 100-95 loss to Minnesota.
With 10 straight losses at the end of last season, the 76ers are 0-25 - just one defeat away from equalling the worst losing streak in NBA history (26).
Three more defeats would take the 76ers to 0-18, equalling the worst start to a NBA campaign, set in 2009-10 by the New Jersey Nets.
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