The Los Angeles Lakers closed out Las Vegas Summer League play on Saturday afternoon, taking on the Chicago Bulls at the Thomas & Mack Center.
After dropping their first two games in Las Vegas and five total when counting the California Classic, the Lakers finally found their groove by winning the last two. They tried to keep that going and finish on a high note against the Bulls, but were without Bronny James, Dalton Knecht and Maxwell Lewis who were resting after playing heavy minutes in previous games.
That didn’t matter as the Lakers came out firing from the jump and cruised to a 107-81 victory over Chicago. L.A. wound up going 3-2 in the Las Vegas position of Summer League.
With so many guys out, Sean East II got some more looks early and had five quick points. DJ Steward, who went off for 37 points yesterday, also had it going again early in this one with the first seven points for his team. The Lakers jumped out to a 13-9 advantage though after a triple by Blake Hinson.
After a timeout, Vincent Valerio-Bodon extended the Lakers’ lead to double digits with back-to-back 3-pointers. Hinson also continued to have it going with 13 first-quarter points and the Lakers were a perfect 7-of-7 from 3 to jump out to a huge 39-18 lead going into the second.
Quincy Olivari was a big part of that 3-point barrage and he continued that with another to start the second. Hinson also stayed hot the entire first half, leading the way with 21 points as the Lakers went into the halftime locker room with a comfortable 56-36 lead.
Thr scoring slowed down significantly in the third quarter as Hinson and the Lakers cooled off from deep. The Bulls couldn’t really take advantage, however, as they still went into the fourth trailing 72-58.
Moses Brown was a force down low all day for the Lakers and that continued to start the fourth with a three-point play followed by a triple from Hinson. Olivari got in on the action from deep too and that essentially put the game out of reach with L.A. going on to cruise to the victory.
Hinson finished with a game-high 25 points while Olivari had 20 off the bench.
What’s next for the Lakers
As previously mentioned, this game marked the end of the Las Vegas Summer League for the Lakers since they didn’t qualify for the playoffs. All of the young players can now take what they learned from this experience and use it to improve their game for the rest of the summer before reporting to training camp in September.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
