After an emotional victory against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, the Lakers are back at it on Thursday against the Chicago Bulls, the same team they lost to by 31 points at home last week. L.A. aims to avoid a season sweep as well as build another winning streak.
Thanks to LeBron James’ game-winning putback on Wednesday, the Lakers avoided another embarrassing loss. It would’ve been the absolute worst way to give away an important game, considering that they were not only up by 17 at the first half but by as many as 11 with nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Thankfully, all types of wins count equal.
Now the challenge for the purple and gold is to recover quickly because they will face the same Bulls team that ran them out of their arena on Saturday. Chicago did that by controlling the pace for most of that game, outscoring the Lakers (30-12) in transition and converting 46% of their 3-point shots.
Yes, that was an outlier type of shooting night by the Bulls, who usually average just 36.7% and have a below-average offense. But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen again — especially if L.A. plays their worst defensive game again.
They were so bad defensively in their last matchup that they allowed Chicago to shoot 78.6% on twos in the first half and then 73.7% on threes in the second half. On top of that, Chicago dominated the paint (74-42).
It’ll be interesting to see how JJ Redick adjusts defensively in this one. Will he continue to lean more into small ball given that those lineups were exposed by the Bulls’ long and athletic unit? Or go bigger? The Lakers’ defense will dictate their chances in this one. The last thing they want is for Coby White, Josh Giddey and rookie Matas Buzelis to combine for 82 points again.
But that’s also not to say that they should take their offensive assignments lightly. Since it’s the second night of a back-to-back and LeBron James and Rui Hachimura just returned from injury, it’s uncertain who’s going to suit up for this one.
Although it’ll ideal if Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic carry over their performance from Wednesday’s victory because the Lakers are going to need it. Same goes with LeBron, if he plays in this one.
Now that they’ve snapped their losing streak, the Lakers need to start winning games because there are exactly 10 left to solidify an ideal spot in the Western Conference standings. Now is not the time to be dropping games and going on a dry spell, especially against teams that they’re supposed to be beating.
Let’s see if the Lakers take care of business and get one back against the Bulls on Thursday.
Since this game is slated on the second night of a back-to-back for L.A., there isn’t an updated injury report yet. But, obviously, expect Maxi Kleber (right foot surgery recovery) to be ruled out.
As for the Bulls, Ayo Dosunmu (left shoulder surgery) and Tre Jones (left midfoot sprain) are out. Josh Giddey (right flexor carpi), Nikola Vucevic (right midback strain) are questionable while Coby White (right toe sesamoiditis) is probable.
