LeBron passes Shaq for 4th in postseason scoring
CLEVELAND — LeBron James surpassed Shaquille O’Neal on the all-time playoff scoring list Thursday night.
James moved past his one-time teammate into fourth place when he scored on a driving layup with 8:08 left in the third quarter of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Toronto Raptors. He entered the game needing 19 points to pass O’Neal’s 5,250 postseason career points, and James had 17 points, nine coming from the line, by halftime.
For James, passing O’Neal means something considering how he marveled like so many others at O’Neal’s enormous size, athleticism and dominance.
“I admired what he was able to do out on the floor by pure force and dominance,” James said at the Cavs’ morning shootaround. “His ability to play at that speed, to have that size and to carry that type of force that he had.”
Michael Jordan is first in points scored in the postseason with 5,987. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (5,762), who was in attendance at Game 2, and Kobe Bryant (5,640) remain ahead of James.
