The Los Angeles Lakers still fell victim to another sluggish start but led by LeBron James, rallied from a 20-point deficit to defeat the Chicago Bulls, 123-107. The win snapped the Lakers’ season-worst five-game losing streak and provided them a reprieve from trying times.
The Lakers trailed 34-16 at the end of the first quarter and fell behind by as many as 20 points early in the second. They went on a 15-4 run to cut their deficit to seven points. Chicago managed to maintain their lead but the Lakers kept pressure on as LeBron James scored 14 of the team’s 39 points in second quarter.
The Lakers rode their momentum into the second half, going on an 11-4 stretch to take their first lead since 2-0. As the team defense buckled down, Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope caught fire to carry the offense.
With that, the Lakers carried a 14-point lead into the fourth quarter. However, rather than put the reeling Bulls away, they allowed them to score eight points in less than two minutes.
James took it upon himself to keep the Lakers afloat as the Bulls were attempting to come back, scoring three straight baskets. He continued to exploit a mismatch with Robin Lopez, and punctuated his 11 fourth-quarter points by taking an alley-oop pass off the backboard from Josh Hart for a dunk that put the Lakers ahead 14.
James checked out with five minutes remaining, finishing with a game-high 36 points to go along with 10 rebounds and four assists.