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James, Durant part of NBA history

LeBron James James took outright possession of yet another record Saturday night when he started the Lakers’ game in Orlando and officially played in the 1,612th regular-season game of his career — breaking a tie with Robert Parish for the most in NBA history.

It’s an obvious tribute to James’ longevity. He is in his 23rd season, one more than Vince Carter’s previous record. Entering Saturday, there are 79 players who have logged NBA minutes this season and weren’t even born when James played his debut game in the league on Oct. 29, 2003.

History was also achieved on Saturday when Kevin Durant passed Michael Jordan for fifth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, the 37-year-old was already looking ahead. “Four more to go,” he said with a smile.

Durant scored 27 points in Houston’s win over the Miami Heat on Saturday night to move past Jordan. Durant, who was the second overall pick in the 2007 draft, had 21 points entering the fourth quarter and hit a 3-pointer with less than five minutes left to inch close to passing MJ.

He did it on his next shot, sinking another 3 from nearly the same spot in the right corner to give him 32,294 points, two more than Jordan.

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