LeBron James became only the second player in NBA history to score more than 38,000 career points on Sunday but his Los Angeles Lakers fell to a third straight defeat with a 113-112 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

James is now second only to fellow Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record of 38,387 points on the NBA's all-time career scoring list and he is expected to surpass that total in the coming weeks.

James put up 35 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Lakers, passing the 38,000-mark in the first quarter, and his achievement was acknowledged by the crowd and players.

But after the game ended in defeat for the Lakers, with Joel Embiid getting 35 points and 11 rebounds for the 76ers, James was in no mood to reflect on his personal milestone.

Asked whether he had thoughts on the achievement he replied simply in the negative and chose to reflect on his team's disappointing form.

"It's just frustrating to get into those positions and not come out with a victory," said James.

Russell Westbrook was unable to make a play in the final seconds of the game for the Lakers.

"We got a stop, gave ourselves a chance to win the game and didn't," he said.