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LeBron's season-high scoring night too much for Hornets to handle

Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The Charlotte Hornets are revered as one of the more stout defensive teams in all of basketball, holding opponents to just 100.5 points per 100 possessions, good enough for fifth overall in the Association.

Analytics go out the door when LeBron James is staring you down, though, and on Saturday night at the Q, nothing the Hornets could muster up on the defensive end was strong enough to put a dent in The King's armor.

James' season high prior to his Cleveland Cavaliers hosting the Hornets was the 34 he dropped on the Toronto Raptors less than a week ago on Dec. 5. Looking back, that performance pales in comparison to the level of dominance he displayed in Charlotte.

In 42 minutes of action, the four-time league Most Valuable Player barely missed out on his fourth triple-double of the season, scoring 44 points on an incredibly efficient 17-of-24 shooting from the field, including five makes from behind the arc in a 116-105 win. He also added nine rebounds and 10 dimes, one of which put him over the 7,000-assist mark for his career to make him the first frontcourt player ever to reach that milestone.

Related: LeBron becomes 1st player with 27K points, 7K rebounds, 7K assists

It was James' first 40-point outing during the regular season since Feb. 26, 2015 when he put up 42 against the Golden State Warriors.

As the game clock expired against the Hornets, James dribbled the basketball towards the scorers table and proceeded to spin it on his fingertip as if he were trying out for the Harlem Globetrotters before walking off the floor like a boss.

Afterwards, head coach Tyronn Lue acknowledged that Kyrie Irving (11 points on 4-of-13 shooting) didn't have his legs under him tonight, which he figured would be the case earlier in the day.

James told him he would pick the team up if Irving wasn't in top form, and, lo and behold, that's exactly what happened.

Long live The King.

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