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LeBron James, are you really 41? The Akron Hammer just shocked the entire NBA world with a performance of the highest quality against the Houston Rockets. He took 14 shots, missed just one. James finished the night with 30 points, only his fifth time this season. But his insane performance isn’t the most astounding part.

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Leave it to Dan Woike to find an unreal coincidence. It’s been exactly 15 years since LeBron James finished the half going perfect from the field. The crazy part? It happened on the same exact day, on March 18, 2011, against the Atlanta Hawks. That day, James scored 43 points on nearly 80% shooting.

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And James looked every bit of his Miami Heat days against the Rockets tonight. He finished the first half going a perfect 8-8 from the field, including two three-pointers. The 21-time All-NBA forward was catching lobs from behind his head, getting into the lane, and dominating the proceedings.

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His performance, besides a nuclear Luka Doncic, handed the Lakers their second straight win over the Houston Rockets. The team only played a single quarter of bad basketball, where they committed a heap of turnovers in the third quarter. The Rockets took their largest lead of the night, overcoming a 13-point first-half deficit. But the Lakers delivered in the clutch.

The Lakers made 13 of their 18 shots in the fourth quarter. LeBron James and Doncic combined for 19 points and five assists in the final period, helping the Lakers seal an impressive win against playoff competition.

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Still, some Lakers fans weren’t pleased with one moment in the game.

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Lakers fans call out referees for ruining LeBron James’ perfect night

Laker Nation was pumping after the victory tonight. The Lakers have now won seven straight games, the third-largest streak in the league at the moment. But fans still felt cheated. Notably, they feel LeBron James was robbed of a perfect shooting night because officials missed a blatant call.

“He basically shot 100% from the field in a 30 point game, this shouldn’t count as a miss at all,” a fan wrote about the play. That came in the fourth quarter. James attempted a layup and three Rockets players swarmed him at the rim. There was a lot of contact, but no foul was awarded.

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“Someone should freeze-frame this & call it the ‘Bron Rules, ’” a fan implied. For a player like LeBron James who plays much of his basketball inside the arc, his free-throw numbers aren’t fascinating. James hasn’t averaged over 6 free throws per game in the last seven seasons.

One fan made a very obvious comparison. “If this was Shai bro would’ve had the whistle,” they wrote. That’s a conversation for a different time. Looking at the play, it’s clear officials should have been more attentive in the situation. Maybe one Rockets player got the ball cleanly. That still leaves two more who forced LeBron James to the floor.

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“I couldn’t believe it. No one gets more disrespected by the refs. Been like this for a decade,” another fan added. Nonetheless, it was still a magical night for LeBron James and the Lakers. This was essentially a tie-breaker to create some separation between them and the Rockets. It becomes sweeter when considering that the Nuggets also suffered an upset at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies.

And James won’t care about one missed shot. The Akron Hammer had a sensational game. He displayed his athleticism and grit, feeding into the Lakers’ needs this season. The results are starting to come, and the team’s basketball has improved tremendously. For now, the call won’t haunt James.

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Anuj Talwalkar

4,464 Articles

Anuj Talwalkar is a senior NBA Newsbreak specialist at EssentiallySports, trusted for his real-time coverage and fast, accurate updates on league developments. With five NBA seasons and two Olympics coverages under his belt, Anuj stands out as the go-to reporter for the NBA Matchday Newsdesk. As part of the EssentiallySports Journalistic Excellence Program, he continuously refines his hard reporting with grounded storytelling shaped by fan culture and court-level insights. An economics graduate and lifelong OKC fan since the Supersonics era, Anuj combines analytical thinking and a genuine passion for basketball. He’s recognized for both his live news coverage and feature writing, with aspirations to someday interview Russell Westbrook. Anuj’s reporting is marked by its reliability, depth, and strong connection to the pulse of the NBA.

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