Bulls vs. Lakers final score: Zach LaVine leads Chicago to 118-108 win

LeBron’s surprise return not enough for Lakers

After their win at Portland Friday, the Chicago Bulls continued their mini West Coast road trip with a 118-108 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Despite a noon local time tip, the Bulls were the ones who raced out to an early lead, going up by as much as 20 points in the first quarter. The Lakers rallied back and made it an eight point game at halftime with all of the momentum. Nikola Vucevic played just 15 minutes as he was ejected during the second quarter. He initially got T’d up for arguing about a foul call then was subsequently called for his second technical just seconds after as he was walking away from the referees. It was a tough blow for Chicago as this was during the stretch in the first half where LA was fighting their way back into it.

But Chicago struck back, starting the third quarter strongly and never looked back. They fended off every Lakers rally and picked up a key victory in terms of their postseason status.

As a team the Bulls were great on offense, shooting 54 percent from the field and 45 percent on three-pointers. They had 32 assists on 47 made baskets and did a good job limiting mistakes with just nine turnovers. Chicago didn’t get to the line as much as they with just 13 free throw attempts.

Zach LaVine continued his scorching month of March with a 32 point performance. He went 13 of 19 from the field along with four assists. LaVine was able to get to the basket with ease and score whenever he wanted.

DeMar DeRozan had a double double of 17 points and 10 rebounds. It wasn’t the same usual dose of usage for DeRozan as he took just 13 shots but made it count with seven made baskets, including two three’s. He also added six rebounds and a block.

Patrick Beverley scored 10 points and had five assists in his return to LA. He scored the game sealing basket with 1:12 left and then proceeded to hit LeBron James with a “too small” celebration.

Chicago’s bench stepped up big time with 48 points an entire unit. Coby White led the way with 13 points, six assists, and seven rebounds. He hit three shots from downtown and added a steal. White had some clutch three-pointers late to held fend off a late Lakers rally. Andre Drummond had 12 points and eight rebounds while Ayo Dosunmu and DJJ had eight points each.

Despite coming off the bench, LeBron James led the Lakers in scoring with 19 points while Malik Beasley and Troy Brown Jr. had 18. Anthony Davis finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.

The Bulls are now 36-38, three games ahead of the Wizards for the 10th seed. Chicago is also within striking distance of both the 8th and 9th seeds, meaning that they could potentially host one of the play-in games. There are eight games left and their magic number for the 10th seed is six while for the 9th seed it’s eight.

The Bulls are on a back-to-back tomorrow, but won’t have to travel far for their next game as they play the Clippers.