CHICAGO — DeMar DeRozan had 27 factors, 9 assists and 7 rebounds, and the Chicago Bulls beat LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers 124-108 on Wednesday evening.
Chicago shot 54.5% from the sphere and had eight gamers rating in double figures. Coby White had 17 factors and reserve Ayo Dosunmu added 14. Nikola Vucevic had 13 factors and 10 rebounds for his sixteenth double-double of the season.
“We was going through it,” DeRozan mentioned of the Bulls’ 5-14 begin to the season. “Sometimes you’ve got to go through it so you can find a different type of motivation that you can come together with. The best relationships come out of that.”
Despite the continued absence of All-Star guard Zach LaVine as a result of proper foot irritation, the Bulls opened a six-game homestand with their third win in 4 video games. They additionally performed with out ahead Torrey Craig after they introduced Tuesday that he might miss as much as 10 weeks with a proper plantar fascia damage.
“Anytime you lose a really, really great player, and a talented player, gifted player like Zach, I think it always hurts you,” mentioned Bulls coach Billy Donovan, whose staff is 7-3 since LaVine’s damage. “I’m certainly hopeful when he gets himself healthy he can get back to where he was. I think with what he was dealing with his foot for a long period of time, I’m not so sure that he was ever right.”
James had 25 factors, 10 rebounds and 9 assists for Los Angeles, falling simply shy of a second consecutive triple-double. Anthony Davis had 19 factors and 14 rebounds in his hometown.
PHOTOS: DeMar DeRozan stars because the Chicago Bulls knock off the Los Angeles Lakers 124-108
The Lakers have dropped 4 of 5 since successful the NBA In-Season Tournament.
Trailing by as many as 18 factors early within the second quarter, Los Angeles repeatedly trimmed the deficit to as little as two as late as midway by the third quarter, however couldn’t overtake DeRozan and Chicago.
“We all hate losing,” mentioned Davis, who had his sore left ankle wrapped postgame. “There’s no break coming. No help coming. There’s no cavalry. We’ve got to do it within this locker room. We’ve got everyone back now. We just got to find a way to get in the win column.”
The Bulls have put collectively their greatest stretch of perimeter taking pictures all season since shedding the sharpshooting LaVine. After hitting 18 of 34 3-point makes an attempt in opposition to the Lakers, the Bulls have averaged over 14 3-pointers per recreation over their final 10 contests, which might rank close to the highest of the NBA over a full season.
“Playing a lot faster has opened up a lot for us in that regard,” White mentioned. “Transition 3s and not playing against a set defense.”
Despite an early flurry when James scored or assisted on the primary 9 Lakers factors, the Bulls opened a 48-30 lead early within the second quarter behind sizzling outdoors taking pictures. Both defenses got here into the evening among the many league’s worst in permitting 3-pointers, however it was the Bulls who had essentially the most success from deep. Alex Caruso scored 15 factors and was one among 4 Bulls who made three or extra 3-pointers.
A Vucevic nook 3 helped ship the Bulls to halftime up 61-55. The Bulls by no means trailed after the primary two minutes of the primary quarter, and each groups emptied their benches for the ultimate minutes.
UP NEXT
Lakers: At the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday evening.
Bulls: Host the Spurs on Thursday evening.
