Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron and the bench bully the Bulls, 5 lessons
By Ronald Agers
We share five lessons from the Los Angeles Lakers victory over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night.
The Los Angeles Lakers looked like they were going to get run out of the Windy City as LeBron James looked like he was all alone. Then the bench showed up in the second half to lock up the Chicago Bulls. After that, the Lakers blew the Bulls out to win their six straight.
For about three quarters, it looked like the Los Angeles Lakers were fat and happy. After pulling a victory out of the jaws of defeat against the Dallas Mavericks and overpowering the San Antonio Spurs, the Lakers found themselves at the top of the Western Conference standings. After beating two playoff contenders over the weekend, most would think the next matchup against Chicago was a classic trap game.
They had enough excuses. Avery Bradley was sidelined by a lower right leg contusion that he suffered during Sunday’s 103-96 victory at San Antonio. According to Frank Vogel, he’s day-to-day (As we all are!). Kentavious Caldwell-Pope replaced Bradley in the starting lineup. That alone had Lakers faithful nervous
The Los Angeles Lakers could have been satisfied with a 2-1 road trip being good enough and looking forward to Miami. Then, the 4th quarter started and the rest of the team decided to help LeBron James out. For three quarters, he looked like the only player that really cared. Instead of Anthony Davis providing support, the bench stepped up and ran over the Chicago Bulls 118-112.
The rest of the NBA now had better take notice. The Lakers are for real. The talent on this squad is so spread out that Frank Vogel has plenty of options to use to find the right combinations on a nightly basis. Not only can the Lakers run with the championship contenders, but they can also turn the switch on at any time on less talented teams like Chicago.
NBA TV’s announcer, Greg Anthony said during the broadcast that all teams have at least ten games like these. It’s good to know that the Lakers have the top defense in the NBA to bail them out.
https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1191909674552938496
After giving up 65 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers started their defensive stand right here with JaVale McGee‘s block on Wendell Carter Jr. Soon after the Chicago Bulls were witness to a 29-4 run on the strength of stifling defense.
Man, it seems like forever since the Lakers took that awful loss to the Clippers on opening night. Since then it seems the Lake Show is slowly progressing toward the Showtime era back in the ’80s and the Kobe/Shaq tenure of the ’90s. They have swept their three-game road trip and sixth win overall. They are the only NBA team with six wins.
Let’s get to Lake Show Life Lessons. Guess who had a good game?