In what I still can’t be sure it wasn’t a hallucination induced by sleep deprivation – it was a long week – a schedule featuring Jared Dudley, Talen Horton-Tucker and Montrezl Harrell helping the Lakers recover from their recent loss to Spurs by beating the Bulls, 117-115, on Friday night.
Vogel dusted Duda for his first burn out of the season’s garbage in the third quarter and, like a dough thrown against the wall in despair to see if a plate is ready, the move caught on. Duda can move like a blogger during a pickup game, but his infectious energy and defensive intensity as he dived for loose balls, spinning like crazy and lubricating the attack gears injected the Lakers with the dose of electricity they needed in one. night also often seemed indifferent. His box score production – 0 points, 1 rebound, plus-less than +5 – will not explode, but he deserves credit for stepping up when the Lakers needed him. They will need it from everyone at times this year, and tonight was just Dudz’s turn.
Things didn’t look so good in the early evening. With Anthony Davis and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope losing the game through injury, the Lakers’ defense Davis attacked on Thursday looked even more disorganized than ever, while Bulls guard Zach LaVine lost 17 points in the first quarter.
The Lakers remained in the game, mainly due to the offensive brilliance of LeBron James (28 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists) and Dennis Schröder (16 points and 7 assists), and led by one in the break as a result. In the second half they received a boost from Wesley Matthews, which exploded to 14 points in the second half while James searched for him again and again.
But the Bulls were not leaving. Dudley’s impulse helped, mainly because it woke the rest of the team. Harrell finally made it all the way online, blasting the Bulls with waves of small talk and buckets of isolation to finish off with 17 points and 14 rebounds. He and the rest of the team were aided by some clutch throws and Schröder’s flawed serves, buckets that gave Lakers room to breathe just enough to survive a few James bricks on the stretch while the Lakers almost disintegrated and let the Bulls steal This one. Fortunately for them, LaVine (38 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds) finally calmed down, missing a jump that would put Chicago ahead with just a few seconds remaining. An entrance to Schröder lightning and a few free throws later, the Lakers survived.
Purple and gold will have a break on Saturday before returning to the court on Sunday for the first of two street games against the Houston Rockets. And although they don’t get any style points for that, this win will break the team’s record for 7-3, the best of the Western Conference.
It was not pretty, but a victory is a victory, as this team continues to grow slowly and tries to fatten its record against a smooth schedule by all necessary means.
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