The Los Angeles Lakers began a tough three-game road trip on Wednesday night when they took on the Chicago Bulls.
It marked the first time all season that the Lakers were at full strength with Gabe Vincent returning from his knee injury, but that didn’t matter as they still lost 124-108.
In the absence of the injured Zach LaVine, point guard Coby White has taken his game to another level in recent weeks and that continued early in this one by hitting a midrange bank to kick off the scoring before LeBron James got the Lakers on the board with a layup.
James was hot early, throwing down a thunderous dunk and then burying a triple to put the Lakers up 9-4 and force a Bulls timeout.
Chicago had a nice response out of the timeout though with White and Alex Caruso both knocking down triples and two-pointers to lead a 10-0 run before Anthony Davis ended it.
The Lakers otherwise stayed cold though while the Bulls were red-hot, allowing Chicago to take its first double-digit lead.
Vincent checked in for the first time with three minutes to go in the first quarter and made an immediate impact with an assist. Things otherwise did not go well for the Lakers though as they trailed 33-22 going into the second.
The Bulls did not cool off to start the second as Javon Carter drilled back-to-back triples to extend the lead to 15.
James eventually inflicted some life back in the Lakers with an 13-0 run that included Cam Reddish and Prince triples, although the Lakers still had a lot more work to do.
The Bulls continued to leave Prince open at the 3-point line and he made them pay again, providing the Lakers a much-needed source of offense.
L.A. got its deficit all the way down to two before Chicago ended the quarter strong to take a 61-55 lead into the half.
Davis and James came out strong in the third quarter with back-to-back and-ones for the Lakers. The momentum came to a screeching halt when Davis rolled his ankle and was forced to come out, however, allowing the Bulls to build their lead back up.
The Lakers had some silly turnovers but Rui Hachimura beat the buzzer with a big triple to at least keep them within 12 at 90-78 going into the fourth.
Davis was able to return at the start of the fourth quarter although he definitely looked hobbled by the ankle issue. James and Reaves were doing their part offensively to keep the game from getting out of reach, but the Bulls continued to knock down outside shots at a high rate.
As has been the case a lot in the past, DeRozan killed his hometown team with a variety of midrange shots while the Bulls’ role players also contributed for deep.
The Lakers tried to make a run but simply couldn’t get enough stop to get back in it, going on to suffer another disappointing loss.
Next for Lakers
On Thursday, the Lakers face the Minnesota Timberwolves to complete a back-to-back stretch. That will be followed by facing the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night to conclude a three-game road trip.
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