Josh Giddey flirts with rare quadruple-double as Bulls spoil LeBron James’ return to Lakers

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Josh Giddey notches his 15th career triple-double and falls just two steals short of a quadruple-double in the Bulls' romp of the Lakers

Coby White, Matas Buzelism, and Josh Giddey led the hot-shooting Chicago Bulls to a 146-115 win over the host Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday, March 22 (Sunday, March 23, Manila time), spoiling the returns of LeBron James and Rui Hachimura.

White finished with 36 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the field, making 6-of-9 attempts from three-point range for Chicago (31-40). Buzelis, a rookie, added 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting.

Giddey perhaps one-upped them both, notching his 15th career triple-double by tallying 15 points, 17 assists, and 10 rebounds. Giddey was also a decisive factor on defense with 8 steals.

Luka Doncic led the way for the Lakers (43-27), scoring 34 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including 8 threes. Doncic scored 29 in the first half to keep it close briefly. Austin Reaves added 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting, while James chipped in 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting. He added 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

James played in his first game since leaving the Lakers’ 111-101 loss in Boston on March 8 with a groin injury. The Lakers went 3-4 in James’ absence, and they have lost six of their last nine overall.

Hachimura missed 12 games due to left patellar tendinopathy.

The Lakers pulled within a point on a James slam less than a minute into the second half. They couldn’t get over the hump, however, again falling behind by 11 with 8:23 remaining after the Bulls went on a 15-4 run. Chicago led by as many as 15, including taking a 104-89 lead into the fourth.

Down 126-103 with over six minutes remaining in the fourth, Lakers coach JJ Redick pulled his starters and subbed in a lineup of reserves, which included Bronny James.

Chicago controlled much of the first half. The Bulls led for all but a few seconds of the second quarter, pushing their lead to double-digits at 49-39 with 7:30 to play.

The Lakers brought the game back within 3 at halftime at 65-62. Doncic led the comeback, hitting 4 three-pointers in the last five minutes.

Doncic finished the half 9-of-14 from the field overall and 7-of-10 from three-point range. He finished the game with 8 rebounds and 6 assists, but also was responsible for 7 of the Lakers’ 21 turnovers. – Rappler.com