LeBron James has passed Karl Malone on the NBA career scoring list, leaving only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar still to catch.

But the Los Angeles Lakers wasted another stellar performance by their superstar.

James came into Saturday night needing 19 points to tie Malone. He ended up scoring double that, but the Washington Wizards rallied from a 16-point deficit to win 127-119 in Washington.

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James said he couldn't appreciate the milestone as much in a loss.

"Obviously at some point I'll be able to look back at this moment, but right now the feeling I have - I can't separate it," James said. "We had a great opportunity to pick up some more momentum."

The Lakers, who won at Toronto on Friday night in overtime, haven't earned back-to-back victories since a four-game winning streak to January 7.

Malone scored 36,928 points. Abdul-Jabbar's record of 38,387 is in reach if 37-year-old James stays healthy.

"I will not allow myself to think about it," he said. "These things have just happened organically by just going out and playing the game the right way.

"Hope to accomplish that at some point in my career,, but I won't think about it too much."

While James scored 38 points and Russell Westbrook added 22, the Lakers' small line-ups couldn't stop the 221cm Kristaps Porzingis, who scored 16 of his 27 points in the final quarter.

Washington outscored the Lakers 34-20 in the fourth quarter.

After a six-point first quarter, James went on a scoring binge in the second that included a dunk and three 3-pointers.

The last of those 3s brought him even with Malone. Then he made a lay-up off a backdoor cut with 5:20 left in the quarter to move ahead.

Moments later James' accomplishment was put up on the video screen, and the crowd in Washington gave him a standing ovation.

The Wizards (30-40) snapped a six-game skid and while they have a better record than the Lakers (30-41) they are outside the play-in tournament spots in the eastern conference while their vanquished opponents are ninth in the west.

The Minnesota Timberwolves won for the 10th time in 11 games by rolling past the Milwaukee Bucks 139-119.

Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out the game for Milwaukee because of soreness in his right knee with Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards both netting 25 points apiece for the T'Wolves.

Elsewhere the Charlotte Hornets routed the road-weary Dallas Mavericks 129-108 while the Cleveland Cavaliers surived a 40-point assault from Jerami Grant to beat the Detroit Pistons 113-109.