Kevin Durant becomes the 8th NBA player to reach 29,000 career points, helps Suns beat Mavs

Kevin Durant became eighth player in NBA history to score 29,000 career points, reaching mark Saturday night as his Phoenix Suns beat Dallas Mavericks 114-102.

14-time All-Star scored 31 points against Mavs and now has 29,010 points over 17 seasons with Seattle, Oklahoma City, Golden State, Brooklyn and Suns. 36-year-old has averaged 27.3 points over 1,064 games.

Durant has averaged at least 20 points in every season and continues to put ball in hoop at a high rate, scoring nearly 29 points per game through his first three games this season.

“I've got to give credit to people who have helped me since I was a kid,” Durant said. “Teammates who passed me ball, set screens for me, coaches who drew up plays for me.”

LeBron James is NBA's career scoring leer with 40,543 points. Behind him is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Wilt Chamberlain and n Durant. Durant is 10th on combined NBA and ABA list, with Julius Erving eighth and Moses Malone ninth.

“What a tribute to a great, generational talent,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said. “I feel incredibly lucky to be around him every day.”