CHICAGO — Less than 24 hours before their road game against the Chicago Bulls, the Lakers went through the emotional experience of clinching a last-second victory when it looked like a loss was on the horizon.
On Thursday night at the United Center, they were on the other side of the misfortune, with Josh Giddey’s half-court buzzer-beating shot giving the Bulls a 119-117 victory over the Lakers.
The Bulls cut the Lakers’ lead, which was as large as 18 early in the fourth quarter (96-78) to four (107-103) after Nikola Vucevic knocked down a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer with just over two minutes left.
Jaxson Hayes (19 points, eight rebounds) helped give the Lakers a bigger cushion with a dunk assisted by Luka Doncic (25 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists) before tipping in a putback layup off a Doncic 3-point miss to give the Lakers a 111-104 lead with 1:28 left.
The Lakers maintained a three-point lead after Austin Reaves (game-high 30 points) banked in an 8-footer to give the Lakers a 113-110 lead with 27 seconds left. Their lead grew to 115-110 after Reaves made a pair of free throws with the Bulls intentionally fouling.
Patrick Williams hit a corner 3-pointer after Chicago’s timeout to cut the Lakers’ lead to 115-113 with 10.3 seconds left.
And after a bad inbound pass from LeBron James (17 points, 12 assists, five rebounds) that was stolen by Giddey, the Bulls guard assisted Coby White on another 3-pointer, giving the Bulls a 116-115 lead with 6.1 seconds left.
Reaves made a layup to give the Lakers a 117-116 lead with 3.3 seconds left, but the Lakers left United Center in defeat after Giddey’s game-winner.
The Lakers’ four-game trip will conclude against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.
More to come on this story.
Originally Published:
