LeBron James surpassed a new record, that of the number of regular season games played, and Kevin Durant overtook Michael Jordan to move into 5th place on the NBA's all-time scoring list on Saturday.

A record 1,612th match for the "King"

LeBron James, who at 41 is extending an exceptionally long career, played his 1,612th NBA regular season game in Orlando, surpassing the record of Robert Parish, who retired in 1997. Including the playoffs, LeBron has played 1,904 NBA games, by far the greatest total.

The "King", in his 23rd NBA season, another record, continues to make his mark on the historical statistics of the North American league, after having taken three years ago the most prestigious record, that of the number of points scored by the legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

On Saturday, the four-time NBA champion scored 12 points, including a powerful dunk in transition in the first minute, during the Lakers' 105-104 victory on Orlando's home court.

Substitute Luke Kennard (13 points), who arrived from Atlanta in February, sealed the victory with a 3-pointer with one second left on the clock after a successful inbounds pass.

The gold and purple, third in the West (46 wins - 25 losses), won for the 9th time in a row with, as since the beginning of their series, a game with at least 30 points from their Slovenian magician Luka Doncic (33 points, 8 assists), who had scored 60 points on Thursday in Miami.

Kevin Durant is the 5th all-time leading scorer, ahead of Jordan

LeBron James is not the only legendary veteran to have reached a new level on Saturday: Kevin Durant became the 5th most prolific scorer in the NBA with 32,294 points, ahead of Michael Jordan (32,292).

"KD", aged 37 and in his 17th season, scored 27 points to help the Houston Rockets narrowly defeat Miami 123-122, thanks to a buzzer-beating tip-in by Amen Thompson (24 points, 18 rebounds) following a shot by Durant.

He can now aim for 4th place in this historic ranking occupied by Kobe Bryant (33,643 points), remaining away from the podium with Karl Malone (36,928), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) and obviously LeBron James (43,241).

Miami made the Rockets tremble until the very end, thanks in particular to their center Bam Adebayo (32 points, 21 rebounds).

Progressive Wembanyama

Having remained uncertain until kickoff due to a painful ankle, Victor Wembanyama offered a timid start to the game (6 points at halftime) during the San Antonio Spurs' 5th consecutive victory, against the Indiana Pacers 134-119.

The 22-year-old Frenchman picked up the pace at the start of the fourth quarter, dominating his defenders and padding his stats (20 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists). The towering player (2.24 m) remained a constant defensive threat, however, and finished the game with 5 blocks.

Rookie Dylan Harper (24 points) and 6th man Keldon Johnson (24 points) fueled the Spurs' scoring, against the 25 points of Canadian Andrew Nembhard, point guard of a team that reached the NBA finals last year and is successfully aiming for the bottom of the standings this season in preparation for the draft (15th and last in the East).

SGA scores 40 points, brawl in Washington

Outgoing MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shone with 40 points and 7 assists in the Oklahoma City Thunder's 11th straight win, a 132-111 victory in Washington.

The game was interrupted for 11 minutes due to a major brawl in the 2nd quarter.

Jaylin Williams of the Thunder and Justin Champagnie of the Wizards started the altercation and were ejected. Ajay Mitchell and Cason Wallace, both Oklahoma City players, were also ejected for escalating the situation.