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The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Chicago Bulls in humiliating fashion by 31 points on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena. On Thursday, they looked for payback against the Bulls in Illinois.
They lost again, but instead of losing by getting hit by a sledgehammer, they did so through a few self-inflicted wounds late in crunch time.
The Lakers overcame an early deficit and took control of the game by outscoring Chicago by a combined 69-43 in the second and third quarters combined. But after taking a 91-75 lead into the fourth period, they fell asleep and allowed the Bulls to gradually peck away at their advantage.
Chicago came to within 111-110 with 46 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Kevin Huerter, and the Purple and Gold were clearly in trouble. For a moment, it looked like they had saved themselves when Austin Reaves hit a short bank shot and then made two free throws.
But the Lakers practically gifted this game to the home team in the final 12 seconds as if it were Christmas morning.
Patrick Williams hit a 3-pointer to bring the Bulls to within 115-113, and on the ensuing play, LeBron James threw a bad inbounds pass that was promptly stolen by Josh Giddey. Star guard Coby White quickly hit a 3-pointer, and just like that, L.A. was down 116-115 with 6.1 seconds left.
Reaves again came to the rescue by scoring a layup with 3.1 seconds left. But the Lakers were lazy and perhaps overconfident, as they didn't apply any real pressure on Chicago when it inbounded the basketball. As a result, Giddey got a good look from halfcourt, and he nailed a shot from there just before the buzzer to give Los Angeles a stunning 119-117 loss.
This loss was the result of utter late-game stupidity by L.A. It has now lost eight of its last 12 games, and although it remains in fourth place in the Western Conference with a 44-29 record, it still has the same record as the fifth-place Memphis Grizzlies, who lost tonight to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Lakers will close out this four-game road trip against those same Grizzlies on Saturday.
Finney-Smith, who started in place of the ailing Rui Hachimura, guarded Giddey, and he allowed Giddey to notch a triple-double with 25 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists. Offensively, the Lakers forward was equally ineffective.
In the second quarter, he got hit in the face, likely unintentionally, by Kevin Huerter, causing him to bleed. He reacted by shoving Huerter, and he then left the game to get the bleeding stopped. He returned for the third quarter, and after going scoreless in the first half, he hit a 3-pointer with 10:12 left in the period.
But that would be the only shot he hit all night. He finished 1-of-5 from the field and had three points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal in 30 minutes.
Hayes was tied for the team high in scoring in the first half with 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and he even hit a jump hook, a shot he rarely takes or makes. He didn't slow down much in the second half, and he finished with 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting.
He also grabbed eight rebounds and added one assist and one block, and he contained Bulls center Nikola Vučević well enough. Vucevic, who entered this game averaging 18.5 points a game, scored 14 points.
Reaves led the Lakers with 30 points and made 10 of 17 field-goal attempts while hitting all seven of his free throw attempts. He also added three assists and even had two blocks in 37 minutes.
Had it not been for the Lakers' lapses in the final seconds, Reaves would've likely been the hero of this game.
Doncic was just 2-of-10 in the first half, and while he shot better afterward, he still finished just 8-of-22 from the field and scored a modest (by his standards) 25 points. He did contribute 10 rebounds, eight assists, two steals and one block, and he only committed one turnover in 38 minutes.
James just hasn't been himself since returning from a groin injury this past Saturday. On Thursday, he shot just 8-of-20 overall and missed all five of his 3-point attempts, giving him just 17 points. He's now an icy 1-of-13 from downtown since coming back from that injury.
He did help the Lakers' cause with 12 assists, five rebounds and two steals, but obviously, he was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, culprits in this heartbreaking, inexcusable loss.
Vanderbilt was very active in this game, especially on the defensive end, and it resulted in him collecting seven points, five rebounds, two steals, one block and one assist in 19 minutes.
Hours after getting his two-way contract converted into a standard contract, Goodwin made three of his four shot attempts and two of his three 3-point attempts to score eight points. He also chipped in two rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal in 18 minutes.
In 14 minutes, Vincent shot 3-of-6 overall and 2-of-5 from beyond the arc to score eight points while adding two rebounds.
Knecht missed both of his shot attempts, both of which were 3-pointers, and while he went scoreless, he had three rebounds and one assist in 12 minutes.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player grades: L.A. loses in heartbreaking fashion to the Bulls
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They lost again, but instead of losing by getting hit by a sledgehammer, they did so through a few self-inflicted wounds late in crunch time.
The Lakers overcame an early deficit and took control of the game by outscoring Chicago by a combined 69-43 in the second and third quarters combined. But after taking a 91-75 lead into the fourth period, they fell asleep and allowed the Bulls to gradually peck away at their advantage.
Chicago came to within 111-110 with 46 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Kevin Huerter, and the Purple and Gold were clearly in trouble. For a moment, it looked like they had saved themselves when Austin Reaves hit a short bank shot and then made two free throws.
But the Lakers practically gifted this game to the home team in the final 12 seconds as if it were Christmas morning.
Patrick Williams hit a 3-pointer to bring the Bulls to within 115-113, and on the ensuing play, LeBron James threw a bad inbounds pass that was promptly stolen by Josh Giddey. Star guard Coby White quickly hit a 3-pointer, and just like that, L.A. was down 116-115 with 6.1 seconds left.
Reaves again came to the rescue by scoring a layup with 3.1 seconds left. But the Lakers were lazy and perhaps overconfident, as they didn't apply any real pressure on Chicago when it inbounded the basketball. As a result, Giddey got a good look from halfcourt, and he nailed a shot from there just before the buzzer to give Los Angeles a stunning 119-117 loss.
This loss was the result of utter late-game stupidity by L.A. It has now lost eight of its last 12 games, and although it remains in fourth place in the Western Conference with a 44-29 record, it still has the same record as the fifth-place Memphis Grizzlies, who lost tonight to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Lakers will close out this four-game road trip against those same Grizzlies on Saturday.
Dorian Finney-Smith: D
Finney-Smith, who started in place of the ailing Rui Hachimura, guarded Giddey, and he allowed Giddey to notch a triple-double with 25 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists. Offensively, the Lakers forward was equally ineffective.
In the second quarter, he got hit in the face, likely unintentionally, by Kevin Huerter, causing him to bleed. He reacted by shoving Huerter, and he then left the game to get the bleeding stopped. He returned for the third quarter, and after going scoreless in the first half, he hit a 3-pointer with 10:12 left in the period.
But that would be the only shot he hit all night. He finished 1-of-5 from the field and had three points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal in 30 minutes.
Jaxson Hayes: A-minus/A
Hayes was tied for the team high in scoring in the first half with 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and he even hit a jump hook, a shot he rarely takes or makes. He didn't slow down much in the second half, and he finished with 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting.
He also grabbed eight rebounds and added one assist and one block, and he contained Bulls center Nikola Vučević well enough. Vucevic, who entered this game averaging 18.5 points a game, scored 14 points.
Austin Reaves: A
Reaves led the Lakers with 30 points and made 10 of 17 field-goal attempts while hitting all seven of his free throw attempts. He also added three assists and even had two blocks in 37 minutes.
Had it not been for the Lakers' lapses in the final seconds, Reaves would've likely been the hero of this game.
Luka Doncic: C-plus/B-minus
Doncic was just 2-of-10 in the first half, and while he shot better afterward, he still finished just 8-of-22 from the field and scored a modest (by his standards) 25 points. He did contribute 10 rebounds, eight assists, two steals and one block, and he only committed one turnover in 38 minutes.
LeBron James: C-minus
James just hasn't been himself since returning from a groin injury this past Saturday. On Thursday, he shot just 8-of-20 overall and missed all five of his 3-point attempts, giving him just 17 points. He's now an icy 1-of-13 from downtown since coming back from that injury.
He did help the Lakers' cause with 12 assists, five rebounds and two steals, but obviously, he was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, culprits in this heartbreaking, inexcusable loss.
Jarred Vanderbilt: A
Vanderbilt was very active in this game, especially on the defensive end, and it resulted in him collecting seven points, five rebounds, two steals, one block and one assist in 19 minutes.
Jordan Goodwin: B-plus
Hours after getting his two-way contract converted into a standard contract, Goodwin made three of his four shot attempts and two of his three 3-point attempts to score eight points. He also chipped in two rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal in 18 minutes.
Gabe Vincent: B-plus
In 14 minutes, Vincent shot 3-of-6 overall and 2-of-5 from beyond the arc to score eight points while adding two rebounds.
Dalton Knecht: C-minus
Knecht missed both of his shot attempts, both of which were 3-pointers, and while he went scoreless, he had three rebounds and one assist in 12 minutes.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player grades: L.A. loses in heartbreaking fashion to the Bulls
Continue reading...
