LeBron scores 34 after historic 50,000th point, and Lakers beat Pelicans 136-115 for 7th straight W

LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James finished with 34 points and became the first player to score 50,000 combined points in the regular season and playoffs, and the Los Angeles Lakers extended their longest winning streak in four years to seven games with a 136-115 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night.

Luka Doncic had 30 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds for the Lakers, who have won 17 of 20 to move into second place in the Western Conference at 39-21. Jaxson Hayes had a season-high 19 points and 10 rebounds as Los Angeles won its second straight without injured starters Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura.

Zion Williamson scored 37 points for the 14th-place Pelicans, who went 2-2 on an encouraging road trip. Trey Murphy III added 19 points.

James surpassed his latest milestone with a 3-pointer early in the first quarter. Lakers fans gave a standing ovation moments later to James, who acknowledged it with a wave of his hand.

Bronny James played the final 4:01, scoring two points in his first NBA action since Feb. 12.

Pelicans: Williamson was outstanding, going 17 of 23 from the floor and adding six assists. New Orleans will feel good about its offensive performance against the NBA's top defensive team in recent weeks.

Lakers: Almost everything is working. They're 11-2 since acquiring Doncic and 7-2 with the Slovenian superstar in uniform. Four supporting players scored at least eight points in the absences of Hachimura and Reaves.

Doncic’s 17 points in the first were his most in a quarter this season. The barrage was highlighted by 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions.

James is the only player in NBA history to top 45,000 combined points, let alone 50,000. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is second with 44,149.

The Pelicans host the Rockets on Thursday night, and the Lakers finish a six-game homestand against the Knicks.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James waves to the crowd after making a 3-point basket to go over the 50,000 career point mark during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, left, makes a 3-point basket over New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) to go over the 50,000 career point mark during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic smiles as he puts on a shirt during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic (77) is fouled by New Orleans Pelicans' Kelly Olynyk (13) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James (23) is defended by New Orleans Pelicans' Zion Williamson (1) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James (23) reacts to a foul call on the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James celebrates after making a 3-point basket to go over the 50,000 career point mark during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic (77) celebrates his three-point basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic (77) celebrates his three-point basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James, left, and Luka Doncic high-five during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Over two dozen families from one of the few remaining Palestinian Bedouin villages in the central West Bank have packed up and fled their homes in recent days, saying harassment by Jewish settlers living in unauthorized outposts nearby has grown unbearable.

The village, Ras Ein el-Auja, was originally home to some 700 people from more than 100 families that have lived there for decades.

Twenty-six families already left on Thursday, scattering across the territory in search of safer ground, say rights groups. Several other families were packing up and leaving on Sunday.

“We have been suffering greatly from the settlers. Every day, they come on foot, or on tractors, or on horseback with their sheep into our homes. They enter people’s homes daily,” said Nayef Zayed, a resident, as neighbors took down sheep pens and tin structures.

Israel's military and the local settler governing body in the area did not respond to requests for comment.

Other residents pledged to stay put for the time being. That makes them some of the last Palestinians left in the area, said Sarit Michaeli, international director at B’Tselem, an Israeli rights group helping the residents.

She said that mounting settler violence has already emptied neighboring Palestinian hamlets in the dusty corridor of land stretching from Ramallah in the West to Jericho, along the Jordanian border, in the east.

The area is part of the 60% of the West Bank that has remained under full Israeli control under interim peace accords signed in the 1990s. Since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted in October 2023, over 2,000 Palestinians — at least 44 entire communities — have been expelled by settler violence in the area, B'Tselem says.

The turning point for the village came in December, when settlers put up an outpost about 50 meters (yards) from Palestinian homes on the northwestern flank of the village, said Michaeli and Sam Stein, an activist who has been living in the village for a month.

Settlers strolled easily through the village at night. Sheep and laundry went missing. International activists had to begin escorting children to school to keep them safe.

“The settlers attack us day and night, they have displaced us, they harass us in every way” said Eyad Isaac, another resident. “They intimidate the children and women.”

Michaeli said she’s witnessed settlers walk around the village at night, going into homes to film women and children and tampering with the village’s electricity.

The residents said they call the police frequently to ask for help — but it seldom arrives. Settlement expansion has been promoted by successive Israeli governments over nearly six decades. But Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government, which has placed settler leaders in senior positions, has made it a top priority.

That growth has been accompanied by a spike in settler violence, much of it carried out by residents of unauthorized outposts. These outposts often begin with small farms or shepherding that are used to seize land, say Palestinians and anti-settlement activists. United Nations officials warn the trend is changing the map of the West Bank, entrenching Israeli presence in the area.

Some 500,000 Israelis have settled in the West Bank since Israel captured the territory, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. Their presence is viewed by most of the international community as illegal and a major obstacle to peace. The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future state.

For now, displaced families of the village have dispersed between other villages near the city of Jericho and near Hebron further south, said residents. Some sold their sheep and are trying to move into the cities.

Others are just dismantling their structures without knowing where to go.

"Where will we go? There’s nowhere. We’re scattered,” said Zayed, the resident, “People’s situation is bad. Very bad.”

An Israeli settler herds his flock near his outpost beside the Palestinian village of Ras Ein al-Auja in the West Bank, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

A Palestinian resident of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank burns trash, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian children play in the West Bank village of Ras Ein al-Auja, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian residents of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank pack up their belongings and prepare to leave their homes after deciding to flee mounting settler violence, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian residents of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank pack up their belongings and prepare to leave their homes after deciding to flee mounting settler violence, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)