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LeBron James within 70 points of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's scoring title after comeback win over Pacers

The Lakers will take on the New Orleans Pelicans next on Saturday before returning to Los Angeles

LeBron James is right there.

The Los Angeles Lakers star is poised to take the league's all-time scoring title in the coming days after yet another strong performance on Thursday night in Indianapolis.

James entered Thursday's game just 89 points away from passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA's all-time scoring leader. He put up 26 points against the Indiana Pacers, and had seven rebounds and seven assists, which moved him to just 63 points away from breaking Abdul-Jabbar's mark.

The Pacers led nearly the entire way at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Yet it was a huge 21-10 run to start the fourth quarter that got the Lakers back within just 1 point. Finally, after a pair of James free throws, Anthony Davis hit a bucket and then blocked a late shot attempt from Tyrese Haliburton to put the Lakers in the lead once again and seal the 112-111 win.

Davis led the Lakers with 31 points and 14 rebounds, and Dennis Schroder added 12 points and six rebounds.

Haliburton, who was named an All-Star reserve earlier Thursday, led the Pacers with 26 points and 12 assists, and Aaron Nesmith added 24 points. The Pacers have now lost four straight, and have won just once in their last 12 games.

James had his first triple-double of the season on Tuesday night against the New York Knicks, which made him the first player in league history to do so in his 20th season. He also passed both Mark Jackson and Steve Nash to move into fourth on the NBA's all-time assists leaderboard. James is the only non-point guard to crack the top 20 of that list, though he's still more than 5,000 away from leader John Stockton.

With James now just 63 points away, fans are clamoring for tickets to try and see James pass Abdul-Jabbar. Ticket prices for next week's games have skyrocketed.

LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron James is now just 63 points away from the NBA's all-time scoring title after Thursday's game against the Pacers. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images) (Andy Lyons via Getty Images)

LeBron James breaking scoring record is just a matter of time

James isn't pursuing Abdul-Jabbar's record on the late-stage fumes of his remarkable career. Far from it. His 30.1-point scoring average through 42 games would stand as the third-highest scoring rate of his 20 NBA seasons.

James averaged 20.9 points per game as a rookie and hasn't dipped below that pace since. He's on pace to break Abdul-Jabbar's record in 100-plus fewer games played than his fellow Lakers great. Abdul-Jabbar reached his tally of 38,387 points in 1,560 games; the Lakers' game against the Pacers was the 1,408th of James' career.

The pace has James on track to pass Abdul-Jabbar against the Bucks on Thursday if he doesn't miss any games. Abdul-Jabbar reportedly will be at the Lakers' upcoming home games to see James break his record.

Here's the upcoming slate of Lakers games as James pursues one of the last great milestones of his basketball career.

Saturday: at New Orleans Pelicans, 6 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Tuesday: vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 10:30 p.m. ET

Thursday: vs. Milwaukee Bucks, 10 p.m. ET (TNT)

Feb. 11: at Golden State Warriors, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)

Feb. 13: at Portland Trail Blazers, 10 p.m. ET

Feb. 15: vs. New Orleans Pelicans, 10 p.m. ET (ESPN)