Los Angeles Lakers lose to Chicago Bulls 88-84
Two-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champions fell to an 88-84 loss to a hugely impressive Chicago Bulls side in on Friday night.
In a nutshell
Kobe Bryant scored 23 points and went on 9 for 23 from the field, but failed to score two free throws in the fourth quarter when the Lakers were trying their best to get back into the game.
The Bulls finally broke their seven game losing streak to the Lakers that dated back to December 2006.
Scoring
The lead changed hands eight times and the game was tied six times.
The inactive players among the Lakers were Theo Ratliff and Andrew Bynum whereas those among the Bulls were John Lucas and Kurt Thomas.
Stats
Players’ Stats
Chicago Bulls (13-8)
Derrick Rose scored 29 points, Luol Deng scored 14 points and Kyle Korver scored 13 points for the Bulls. Carlos Boozer scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Bulls gathered to have 11 team rebounds.
Los Angeles Lakers (16-7)
Kobe Bryant scored 23, Pau Gasol scored 21 points and Lamar Odom scored 18 points for the Lakers.
The Lakers reconciled to grab seven team rebounds.
Game Stats
The Los Angeles Lakers grabbed 40 rebounds as opposed to the Chicago Bulls 41. The Lakers had 10 offensive rebounds while the Bulls had 11. The Lakers gave away 19 turnovers, to the Bulls 20.
The Lakers had nine fast break points whereas the Bulls had 18. The Lakers took the biggest lead of the game with 13 points, while the Bulls biggest advantage was by 12 points. Lakers had 52 points in the paint and the Bulls had 30.
The game seemed to be slipping away, but then Derrick Rose somehow put the Bulls in the lead as he contributed 29 points to the box score. The Bulls had a bad first quarter and were down 12-22 against the Lakers. The start of the second quarter wasn't much
better either.
Later Rose, Korver and Deng made a three-pointer each in the final moments of the second quarter to cut the deficit for the Bulls. They went 6 for 27 shooting from the field, and the Bulls trounced the Lakers to 19-3 in the last six minutes of the second
quarter, which earned them a 36-32 halftime lead.
Quote it!
"This gives us the sense of how good we can be.'' said a rather pleased Bulls forward Carlos Boozer, who grabbed a game high 11 rebounds.
Each team gave away two turnovers early in the fourth quarter, in the space of 15 seconds. Ronnie Brewer took complete advantage of the free throws for the Bulls and scored them both.
Hottest Player
Matt Barnes went 5 for 7 from the field as he scored 10 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out two steals in his 24 minutes on court.
The Bulls went down in rather amazing style. They failed to score three dunks, gave away six turnovers and went shooting 25 percent from the field. They even turned over an offensive rebound, when two Bulls attacked each other to gain possession of the ball
and in doing so lost it themselves.
"We beat the Lake Show. It feels great. It's unfortunate we can't go hit the streets tonight," said Bulls center Joakim Noah, referring to the fact that they have another game against Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Coming up next
For the Bulls, Saturday vs. Minnesota, Monday vs. Indiana, Wednesday at Toronto.
For the Lakers, Sunday at New Jersey, Tuesday at Washington, Wednesday at Indiana.
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