LeBron James scores 50 to rally Los Angeles Lakers past Wizards in 'epic performance'

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The standard for what a star is capable of at such a late stage of his career is being redefined by James.

James scored 50 points for the second time in three games as the Lakers beat the Wizards 122-109.

The win came six days after James scored 56 against the Golden State Warriors, which was also a victory for L.A.

In a season when the Lakers haven't given fans much of a reason to want to pay for tickets to see them, James received a rare award. The crowd at the arena chanted "MVP!" He appreciated the reception, even though he has heard a lot of boos in the building.

The Laker faithful know when bad basketball is being played and when good basketball is being played. James said that they have the right to respond. Being a part of this franchise, I try to give them an opportunity to have memorable nights as well.

It hasn't been as great as they would like for it to be this year, but you take the small wins when they come.

The L.A. team was down by nine early in the third quarter when James came to life. He scored 12 straight points for the Lakers in a span of less than two minutes to give them control of the game and stir the crowd into a frenzy.

He started the flurry with an 18-foot fadeaway, followed by a layup and then a pull-up 3 from 31 feet. There was a floating bank shot that he double-clutched before flicking it perfectly off the glass, and a fastbreak dunk when he tried to pull the rim off its screws.

The league has never seen a player at this stage of his career do what he is doing. It is just unbelievable the level that he is playing at.

James shot 18 for 25 from the field, including 6-of-9 on 3-pointers, and 8-of-8 from the free throw line.

He did it when he started in center for the Washington team that had Kristaps Porzingis in the middle.

The best way to use him was to play center, because Anthony Davis was out. The team needs to win games. It was an incredible, unbelievable, epic performance by LJ.

It was the 14th 50-point game of James' career, tying Rick Barry for the sixth most all time, and his teams have now won their past 12 games when he has gone for 50 or more. James became the first player in NBA history over the age of 30 to score 50 in back-to-back home games when he did this at 37.

He has scored 20 or more points in 30 straight games, lifting his scoring average from 29.3 points per game to 29.7 per game, and moving him past Philadelphia's Joel Embiid for first place in the race for the league scoring title.

James said that he was always trying to stay present and that he had been working on his game. That is what goes into it.

The Lakers made a trade with the Wizards in exchange for Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and other pieces, and James overshadowed the main storyline going into the game.

He had five points on 2-for-11 shooting with nine assists and one turnover. He was pulled with 8 minutes, 37 seconds remaining and kept on the bench the rest of the way. L.A. is now 3-1 this season.

The closing lineup of James, Monk, Talen Horton-Tucker, Austin Reaves, and Stanley Johnson helped the team to a 29-20 run from the time Westbrook was taken out until the final buzzer.

Washington was led by Kuzma with 23 points and Caldwell-Pope had four points.

The closing lineup was just about having those guys in there to win.

When James reached 50 on a 3-pointer with 1:41 remaining, Horton-Tucker let out a good-natured, celebratory scream in his direction to bask in the moment.

This is the second time he has scored 50 this year, and I looked up and I was like, "damn, he's got 50!" I always say that seeing that is the motivation.

James, who scored 19 points in the third quarter and 33 total in the second half, said his hot shooting reminded him of the 1990s video game NBA Jam, in which players would be on fire after making three shots in a row.

James said he was able to hit a hot streak at one point.