LeBron James is now the oldest player to lead a playoff series in scoring

In the Los Angeles Lakers' first-round series win over the Houston Rockets, LeBron James yet again made NBA history by becoming the oldest player ever to lead a playoff series in scoring. Of course, the caveat there is that Houston star Kevin Durant missed most of the series after suiting up in Game 1, in which he scored 23 points on 58.3 percent shooting, but even so, what James is doing at his age, 41 years and over 100 days old, is unprecedented.

On top of that, James' star teammate, Luka Doncic, who led the entire NBA in scoring at 33.5 points per game this season, missed the entire series. Had he played, there's little doubt he would have led both teams in points. And Doncic's backcourt partner, Austin Reaves, who had a higher regular-season scoring average than James in 2025-26 (23.3 points per game vs. 20.9 points per game) didn't return until Game 5. He would have been another candidate to lead both teams in scoring had he been at full health.

Regardless, in the series against the Rockets, James put up 23.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game on 43.2 percent shooting from the floor over six games. His most impressive outing came in Game 3, a vital road win that helped Los Angeles take a commanding 3-0 series lead, in which James went off for 29 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and three steals as the Lakers won the game in overtime.

James' 139 total points in the series led both teams; the closest player to James in scoring in the series was Houston's Alperen Sengun, who scored 122 total points.