In this end of the season under high tension, each match now looks like a “must win”. A little more for Los Angeles only for Chicagoas the gap is minimal in the West, while the East seems a bit more fixed.
And in the remake of last Sunday’s poster, won by the Bulls in California, this time it is the Lakers who did the work for revenge in Illinois (121-110). In the wake, in particular, of their major duo Anthony Davis (38 points, 10 rebounds) — LeBron James (25 points, 7 rebounds).
Thanks to this victory, logical and authoritative, the “Purple & Gold” return to balance and in the Top 8 of the Western Conference, while the teammates of Nikola Vucevic (29 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists) and DeMar DeRozan (22 points, 5 assists) remain installed – permanently? – in 10th place in the Eastern Conference.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
— Los Angeles wanted revenge. Logically dominated by the Bulls at home on Sunday afternoon, the Lakers were keen to react in Chicago, where a defeat would have hurt the standings very badly (especially since Utah and OKC won at the same time). Thus, carried by effective holders, the players of Darvin Ham attacked the game with their feet to the floor (+17 after eight minutes), before letting the Bulls come back because of bad rotations, then giving a boost before the break and after returning from the locker room. A success that perfectly launches this “road-trip” of five games.
— Chicago too unruly. It’s hard for the Bulls to hope for anything but a loss, when their starters get eaten up by those of the Lakers, when they leave 13 offensive rebounds and 29 points as second chances in Los Angeles, or when they send the Californians 30 times on the free throw line (for 24 successes). We could also have mentioned the 9/33 from 3-pointers of Billy Donovan’s men, as well as their number of ball losses which continued to worsen over the minutes (14 in total). In short: Chicago missed its match and therefore well deserved this nasty setback.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Los Angeles Holders. Anthony Davis and LeBron James of course, but also Austin Reaves (19 points, 5 assists), D’Angelo Russell (17 points) and Jarred Vanderbilt (8 points, 7 rebounds). Beautiful, very beautiful evening even, for the starting five of the Lakers. Incidentally the… 38th (!) used by Darvin Ham this season and everything suggests that he should not touch it until the end, if the physical glitches of each other disappear for good.
✅ Nikola Vucevic. Frustrated and expelled on Sunday evening against these same Lakers, the Montenegrin responded well last night. The only Bulls player to float in the first quarter, he scored Chicago’s first 15 points as his teammates struggled to put one foot in front of the other on offense. Present in scoring, rebounding and passing, “Vooch” then did his best to resist and give the reply to Anthony Davis, even if the few minutes of rest he took hurt his team, deprived of Andre Drummond for personal reasons.
⛔ Patrick Beverly. Very complicated evening for the leader of the Bulls, author of a zero point (at 0/5) in 25 minutes. In a mocking mood in Los Angeles on Sunday evening, this time he was “trashtalker” by Austin Reaves, who gave him the “too small! he sent to LeBron James in the previous game. One everywhere, ball in the center.
⛔ Darvin Ham. If Dennis Schröder and Malik Beasley continue to have difficulty bringing positive things to the Lakers, it is also difficult to understand why their coach insists on rotations that do not work. This night, for example, the coach constantly released his trio Austin Reaves – D’Angelo Russell – LeBron James at the same time and, twice (one in each half), this revived the Bulls with two “runs”. Two “runs” that occurred when Los Angeles was struggling to find solutions in attack, with Schröder as the sole creator. Without consequence, but to be underlined for all that.
THE FOLLOWING
Chicago (36-40) : trip to Charlotte, in the night from Friday to Saturday (01:00).
Los Angeles (38-38) : trip to Minnesota, on the night of Friday to Saturday (02:00).
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