Los Angeles (AFP) – LeBron James scored 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists as the Los Angeles Lakers beat two injured players’ absence in a 117-115 win over the Chicago Bulls on Friday night.
Zach LaVine scored 38 points, but the UCLA producer missed a 17-foot-long jump 4.7 seconds before the match, which would have put Chicago ahead.
Montrezel Harrell scored 17 points and 14 rebounds for the NBA champions, who won five points out of six. James and Harrell led the way as Los Angeles overtook the Bulls without injuring rookies Anthony Davis and Kintavius Caldwell Bob.
The Lakers lead the Western Conference at 7-3 despite injury challenges and several roster changes.
James said, “During the first 10 games, I think we played B-plus basketball and that is totally fine.” “We are a team that basically added five pieces to the rotation, and we are still learning each other. We are used to different formations, we play with different players, we play good basketball. We want to be better. It lets me know that we have room for improvement, which is a bright spot. . ”
Lavigne scored 19 points in the first quarter for the Bulls, who lost seven straight points to the Lakers.
Dennis Schroeder scored 17 points and hit the pointer 3 with 2:39 to play to lift the Lakers 113-107, but Chicago narrowed the lead to 116-115 on the Jarrett Temple 3 index 37 seconds before the match.
James missed a very long triple pointer to put the game in Chicago’s hands, but Lavigne missed his contested documentary play, and his teammates skipped the ball out of bounds.
“From my point of view, he got a good look,” said Chicago coach Billy Donovan. “That’s what we wanted. … I think we got better in competition. Now I think we should start to address the improvement and not beat ourselves up. We defeated the Lakers, but there are things that were.” We could do it better, it affected the match. ”
Wendell Carter Jr. scored 23 points, the highest level in the season, while Thaddeus Young scored 15 points for Chicago.
“It was far from perfect,” said Lakers coach Frank Vogel. We didn’t play our best basketball the second night of a game in a row, but we managed there and we competed and beat it. ”
TIP-INS
Bulls: Otto Porter Jr. did not return in the second half after suffering back cramps. Play six minutes. … the teams meet again on January 23 in Chicago. … Lori Markanin stayed home from the West Coast excursion due to coronavirus protocols.
Lakers: Davis missed his second game of the season, missing the right-handed telescope. The Super Big Man cannot lose during pre-game training. … Wesley Matthews scored 14 points with four three-pointers in his debut for the Lakers. Caldwell Pope missed his fourth game in a row due to a left ankle sprain.
Practically perfect
Teams came together to make their first 30 free throws before James wasted with 5:19 minutes to play. Only four matches in NBA history have been completed without a missed free throw.
next one
Bulls: On Sunday Clippers.
Lakers: At the Rockets on Sunday.
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