LeBron James recorded 28 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers held a 117-115 victory over the visiting Chicago Bulls.
Montrezl Harrell added 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who were without one of their stars, Anthony Davis. Dennis Schroder also scored 17, while Wesley Matthews had 14 points and Markieff Morris added 11.
For the Bulls, Zach LaVine was above all with his 38 points and 6 assists. Wendell Carter Jr. scored 23 points and Thaddeus Young finished with 15.
Things didn’t look so good earlier in the game. With Anthony Davis and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope missing the game with injuries, the Lakers defense looked even more disorganized than ever and allowed Bulls guard Zach LaVine to drop 17 points in the first quarter.
The Lakers stayed in the game due to the offensive prowess of LeBron James and Dennis Schroder and led by one at halftime. In the second half they got a boost from Wesley Matthews, who exploded for 14 points in the second half as James started to hind for him again and again.
That gave the Lakers just enough breathing room to survive some missed shots by James as the Lakers nearly fell apart and let the Bulls steal the game. Thankfully for them, LaVine finally cooled off, missing a jumper that would have put Chicago up one with just seconds remaining. An inbound to the lightning-quick Schröder and some free throws later, the Lakers snatched the win.
With this result Lakers took the lead in the Western Conference. After 10 games played, Frank Vogel’s players lead the standings with 7 wins and 3 losses. Champions leader LeBron James commented on his team’s performance, saying he was pleased with what has been shown so far. King James also honored the qualities of the Chicago Bulls rookie Patrick Williams, who was selected as a 4th choice in the 2020 Draft. James and the 19-year-old wing of the Bulls faced each other during the Lakers’ victory over the Bulls.
