The Los Angeles Lakers watched one of the sport’s most unbreakable streaks finally meet its end — not with a fadeaway jumper or a roar from LeBron James, but with a pass that cut through the air like a quiet truth. With the Lakers and Toronto Raptors tied at 120, and the final seconds bleedin g away inside Scotiabank Arena, James had the ball in his hands — the same hands that have carried him through 23 seasons, four championships, and an NBA-record 1,297 consecutive regular-season games scoring in double figures. He could have chased history, forced a shot, or bent the moment to fit the legend that follows him city to city like a warm shadow. Instead, he chose the play that makes teammates believe in him the way children believe in stories. James drove, drew the defense, and fired a pass to a wide-open Rui Hachimura settling into the left corner. The buzzer sounded as Hachimura’s three-pointer splashed through the net, the kind of pure, triumphant sound that turns a crowded arena into a cathedral. RUI HACHIMURA FROM THE CORNER FOR THE WIN OFF THE LEBRON JAMES DIME!🚨 @TISSOT BUZZER-BEATER 🚨 Everyone Gets 24 pic.twitter.com/6J38hGVRYK— NBA (@NBA) December 5, 2025 Ballgame. Lakers win, 123–120. The streak ends at eight points. “None. We won,” said LeBron James when asked about his thoughts and feelings of the streak coming to an end. “You always make the right play… there’s no second-guessing that.” After Hachimura’s buzzer-beater went through the net, James raised his arms not in frustration, but in celebration — because the win mattered more to him than any streak or record ever could. “Bron told me right before this, ‘I got you. It’s going to come to you,’” Hachimura said afterward, still wearing the kind of smile only game-winners can carve out of a player. “And it did.” James finished with eight points on 4-for-17 shooting, missing all five threes and never touching the free-throw line. But he orchestrated the fourth quarter with 11 assists, including the one that sealed the night and snapped the streak — a streak that spanned multiple presidents, two collective bargaining agreements, and an entire generation of players who grew up watching him. “LeBron is acutely aware of how many points he has at that point,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “He did it like he’s done so many times — made the right play.” If the night belonged to history, the middle belonged to Austin Reaves, who erupted for a career-high 44 points — 22 of them in a blistering third quarter that carried the Lakers through Luka Doncic’s absence. Reaves added 10 assists, carving up Toronto’s defense with the kind of assertiveness that felt like a coming-of-age performance. The Lakers, now 9–2 on the road, leaned on contributions everywhere: Deandre Ayton’s steady 17, Jake LaRavia’s 14, and 12 each from Hachimura and Nate Smith Jr. They needed every piece of it to withstand the Raptors’ balanced attack led by Scottie Barnes’ 23 and Brandon Ingram’s 20. But this night, this game, this tiny sliver of NBA history — it belonged to James. Not because he scored, but because he didn’t. Because he trusted. Because he passed. Because even at 40 (almost 41), even after 23 seasons, even as the game squeezes out the last droplets of time he has left with it, LeBron James still chooses basketball the way it was meant to be played. A streak ended. A win was earned. And a timeless truth — that greatness often looks like sacrifice — echoed as the Lakers walked off the floor toward Boston, where another chapter waits to be written. Related Stories: NBA Nov 19 Lakers' LeBron James dishes out 12 assists in historic season debut vs. Jazz NBA Nov 18 Lakers' LeBron James making season debut on Tuesday vs. Jazz 2028 Los Angeles Olympics Nov 18 Lakers' LeBron James won't play in 2028 Olympics; Warriors' Steph Curry unlikely ...read more read less