Bulls Take Care of Kobe-Less Lakers 113-93 On Christmas
The Chicago Bulls took on the Los Angeles Lakers without a resting Kobe Bryant to win 113-93 on Christmas Day. Pau Gasol led Chicago with 23 points and 13 rebounds against his former team. Jimmy Butler added 21 points and Derrick Rose had 20 points for the Bulls. Wesley Johnson had a team-high 19 points for the Lakers, who had five players score in double figures.
Kobe Bryant was ruled out against the Bulls due to “general soreness”. This was his second straight game out for the Lakers.
The Lakers gave themselves a competitive chance in the opening quarter with their effort on the glass and dispersed scoring. They were within three points of the Bulls at 27-24 after the first period. Nine different Laker players had scored by the second quarter, but the problem was the Bulls had the same exact luxury.
Chicago’s second unit held off the Lakers prolific bench led by Nick Young (3 points, 1-for-6 shooting) with a 30-point bench outing of their own led by Aaron Brooks and Nikola Mirotic’s 13 points apiece. The only quarter the Bulls lost was in the third (30-25) where the Lakers came within two points of the Bulls three times.
Chicago held off the Lakers’ brief momentum runs by continuing to put pressure on them to defend. The initial attack of Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler in the back court was effective, supplemented by Aaron Brooks’ offensive energy off the bench. Pau Gasol showed his impact as a playmaking presence for this Bulls team, and Nikola Mirotic and Taj Gibson made their combined presences felt on both ends of the floor off the bench.
The Bulls held the Lakers below 40 percent shooting and won the rebounding battle 57-39. It was a 30-point effort from the Bulls in the fourth quarter as opposed to the Lakers’ 16 points.
Chicago Bulls move to 20-9 and the Lakers fall to 9-20 on the season.
