LeBron James knows he made costly mistakes as the Chicago Bulls staged a dramatic comeback from 16 points down to stun the Los Angeles Lakers with a half-court buzzer-beater.
The Lakers suffered a shocking collapse, surrendering their commanding fourth-quarter lead before Josh Giddey sealed the Bulls’ victory with a miraculous game-winner. This loss completed a season sweep for Chicago over Los Angeles, and James took accountability for his role in the defeat.
Less than a day after hitting a buzzer-beater himself to lift the Lakers to victory, LeBron struggled against the Bulls, with a crucial turnover in the final seconds proving costly. After the game, he acknowledged his mistakes in the press conference.
The final moments of the game were chaotic. With the Lakers up five, Austin Reaves knocked down two free throws after Giddey failed to capitalize on a scoring opportunity. However, Patrick Williams drained a three-pointer to cut the deficit to two. Moments later, LeBron’s careless inbound pass was intercepted, leading to a Coby White three that gave the Bulls a one-point lead with six seconds remaining.
Reaves responded by driving to the rim for a go-ahead layup with less than three seconds left, briefly putting the Lakers back in front. But with no timeouts, the Bulls inbounded to Giddey, who launched a deep shot over a contesting LeBron and buried it to secure the win.
Rarely do NBA games end in such dramatic fashion, and the Lakers undeniably let this one slip away. Some argue that Los Angeles didn’t deserve their previous win over the Pacers, which was saved by LeBron’s last-second heroics. This result, then, might just be basketball karma. Regardless, the Lakers’ fourth-quarter collapse was unacceptable for a team with championship aspirations. After holding the Bulls to just 17 points in the third quarter, they allowed 44 in the fourth—a disastrous swing that head coach JJ Redick will surely address.
James finished with 17 points (8-20 FG), five rebounds, and 12 assists, showing flashes of brilliance but also bearing responsibility for the meltdown. Reaves led the Lakers with 30 points (10-17 FG), while Luka Doncic contributed 25 points (8-22 FG), 10 rebounds, and eight assists.
Chicago’s starting lineup overpowered Los Angeles, with Giddey recording a triple-double (25 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists) and Coby White adding 26 points and nine assists. Kevin Huerter chipped in 21 points, while Nikola Vucevic posted 14 points and eight rebounds. Even rookie Matas Buzelis made an impact with 12 points and seven boards.
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