LeBron James Scores 61 Points

There’s something about the Charlotte Bobcats that brings the very best out of the very best.

Without being a prisoner of the moment, last night was highlighted by the best in the world putting on one of the greatest individual performance of his illustrious career. While The King stole the headlines, there were other significant results.

Here’s everything that you need to know about last night’s action.

1. LeBron James went off for a career-high 61 points on 22-of-33 shooting from the floor, 8-of-10 from beyond the arc and 9-of-12 from the charity stripe to lead the Miami Heat past the Charlotte Bobcats 124-107. Not only was LeBron’s scoring outburst a career-high, but it set a new Heat franchise record.

Behind King James’ heroics, Miami has won an NBA-best eight straight games.

2. Since 2012, three players have scored at least 55 points in a game. Every single one of those performances have come against the Charlotte Bobcats.

Carmelo Anthony scored 62 points on January 24, 2014, Deron Williams dropped 57 on March 4, 2012 and LeBron posted 61 last night.

3. Kevin Love took over and tallied 33 points and 19 rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves went on the road to tackle the Denver Nuggets 132-128. The true story in this one was an obscene performance at the charity stripe, where the T-Wolves shot 52-of-64.

That’s the most free throw attempts since the Los Angeles Lakers took 64 on November 19, 1999, and the most free throws made since the Phoenix Suns drained 61 on April 9, 1990.

4. Love has nine games with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in 2013-14. No other player has more than three.

5. Andre Drummond went off for 17 points, 26 rebounds, three blocks and two steals to guide the Detroit Pistons past the New York Knicks 96-85. Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points and Amar’e Stoudemire added 22 on 9-of-11 shooting, but the rest of the team combined to shoot 23.5 percent from the field.

As for Drummond, he became the first Pistons player with at least 26 rebounds since Ben Wallace grabbed 28 on March 24, 2002.

6. Two of the hottest teams in the NBA met as the Memphis Grizzlies took down the Washington Wizards 110-104 in a surprising offensive battle. Tayshaun Prince scored a season-high 21 points for Memphis, while John Wall tallied 23 and nine assists for Washington.

The loss snaps a six-game winning streak for the Wizards. The win brings the Grizzlies to 19-6 since January 7.

7. A budding rivalry was rekindled as the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Chicago Bulls 96-80. Deron Williams scored 20 points and Joe Johnson added 19 in a rare example of the Nets’ expensive backcourt coming together on offense.

In the end, this one came down to taking care of the basketball. Brooklyn coughed it up 11 times, while Chicago committed a whopping 25 turnovers.

8. Young European players clashed as Ersan Ilyasova led the Milwaukee Bucks past Enes Kanter and the Utah Jazz 114-88. Ilyasova was close to perfect with a season-high 31 points on 13-of-14 shooting from the floor, while Kanter scored a career-high 27 points with 14 rebounds.

The future of the NBA is bright.

9. Tyreke Evans returned to the Sleep Train Arena in style with a season-high 27 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and a steal, but it was the Sacramento Kings that earned a 96-89 win. DeMarcus Cousins led the Kings with 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Isaiah Thomas tallied 22 to best their former teammate.

Evans has six double-doubles in 2013-14. That’s his highest amount since 2010-11, when he was in his second year with Sacramento.

10. Pau Gasol scored 22 points and Jodie Meeks posted 21 as the Los Angeles Lakers earned a rare road victory, taking a 107-106 upset of the Portland Trail Blazers. Robin Lopez stepped up with 19 points and 16 rebounds, and Nicolas Batum put up 17 and 15, but Portland’s defense was close to non-existent.

Lopez has 10 games with at least 14 rebounds in 2013-14. He had one in his entire career before this season.