LOS ANGELES — Despite LeBron James putting up 46 points on Paul George and the Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Lakers dropped another game on Tuesday night. The loss dropped the Lakers to 22-26 on the season, but all eyes remain on James as he nears Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record.

The Clippers defeated the Lakers on Tuesday, 133-115. It marked the Clippers' 10th straight win over the Lakers dating back to 2020. Paul George finished with 27 points, nine rebounds, and four assists in the victory, helping to hold off LeBron James. The Lakers star finished with 46 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, and a new career-high nine 3-pointers.

Despite the loss, all the attention remains on LeBron James, who is set to surpass Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record sometime over the next few weeks. Following his 46-point outburst on Tuesday, James is now 177 points away from tying the all-time scoring record of 38,387 points. An even crazier stat is that James has played 156 fewer games than Abdul-Jabbar thus far, who set the record back in 1989.

“It’s just incredible,” Paul George said of LeBron James nearing the feat. “I think the one thing that sticks out is just how long he’s been doing it. To be 38, [scoring] 46 tonight. That is super impressive. To do it 20 years, I think that’s what stands out the most is just his longevity in his game and to be available, he’s pretty much been available throughout his whole career, but the league is his. The league is his. Stand-up guy, been amazing mentor, leader to a lot of us young guys and he’s been awesome. He’s been awesome. It’s great that he’ll be the scoring leader.”

Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue revealed that reaching the all-time scoring record is something he and James briefly discussed during their time in Cleveland. James wasn't having any of it.

“Don't let T-Lue gas you up like that,” LeBron joked with reporters following the game. “T-Lue is lying. I never thought I could catch Kareem in scoring. It's never been something that's on my mind.”

After leading by as many as 23 points and by 15-plus for seemingly the first three quarters, the Lakers cut the Clippers' lead down to 10 with just under minutes remaining. The home crowd was back into it, and the Clippers appeared a bit flustered, which led to some careless turnovers.

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“It was scary,” Paul George said when LeBron James hit his ninth triple of the game, giving him 46 points and trimming the Clippers' lead to 10. “I’ve seen that look in Bron. There was a moment where he had that look and that's why he's great and the reason why he is who he is in this league.”

From that point, Kawhi Leonard scored an and-1, Reggie Jackson hit a back-breaking 3-pointer, and Leonard threw down a transition dunk off a Russell Westbrook turnover to essentially put the game away.

“Kawhi is a closer,” George added. “He's super consistent. We knew we couldn't allow LeBron to take over the game. Like we had to attack and be effective on the other side as well. We'll figure out ways to get stops and how to make it more difficult for LeBron down the stretch. For us offensively, we can't just allow him to attack us and we not attack back and make plays and continue to play the game. So that's just all it was down the stretch. I thought we just didn't get relaxed. We knew that we had to continue to score, especially if he's going, if LeBron's gonna elevate the game that much.”

The Clippers won their third game in a row, improving to 26-24 and holding the fifth seed in the Western Conference. The Lakers dropped to 22-26 and currently hold the 13th seed in the West.