Bulls End Losing Streak Against Lakers With 88-84 Win
(WSCR) - The Bulls had a slow start, but dominated the Lakers on the court. It had been almost four years since the Bulls had beaten the Lakers and Derrick Rose's 29 points lead that victory.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Derrick Rose had 29 points and nine assists, and the Chicago Bulls held off a late rally by the Los Angeles Lakers for an 88-84 win Friday night to match a season best with their fourth straight victory.
The Bulls hit eight 3-pointers, three by Rose, who made the shot a key part of his game during the offseason. Reserve swingman Kyle Korver connected on a trio of 3's and scored 13 points for Chicago, which held a 26-13 edge in bench points.
The 84 points marked a season low for the Lakers. The two-time defending NBA champions were led by Kobe Bryant's 23 points, though he shot just 9 for 23 from the floor.
It was the Bulls' first win over the Lakers in nearly four years. Los Angeles had won seven straight against Chicago since a 94-89 Bulls victory on Dec. 19, 2006, at the United Center.
Phil Jackson fell to 17-7 in his Lakers coaching career against the Bulls, the team he guided to six NBA championships in the 1990s.
Los Angeles had won three straight since a four-game losing streak.
After Korver hit two free throws to give Chicago its biggest advantage at 82-69 midway through the fourth quarter, the Lakers went on a six-point run. Then, during a timeout, the Bulls lost a point on an official's review that changed a 3-pointer by Rose to two points.
After the timeout, Rose threw away a pass trying to hit Joakim Noah under the basket. Bryant scored on a short jumper on the other end, pulling the Lakers within four with 1:45 to play.
Rose ended the run with a drive to the basket, but Derek Fisher hit a 3 from corner with 48 seconds to play, cutting Chicago's lead to 83-80.
Rose went to work again, hitting a fallaway 15-footer with the shot clock running down. That put the Bulls ahead by five with 25.2 seconds to play.
Rose made one of two free throws with 14 seconds left. After a timeout, Bryant drew a foul, but also missed one of two from the line. He fouled Ronnie Brewer on the rebound attempt with 10.7 seconds remaining.
Brewer hit both free throws to seal it for the Bulls.
The Lakers made their initial fourth-quarter push about 4 minutes into the period.
Bryant's 3 at the 8-minute mark pulled the Lakers within five. Ron Artest stepped into the passing lane on the next possession for a steal and was wrapped up by Noah to prevent a layup.
At first, Noah was called for a clear-path foul, but the call was rescinded after replay review. The Lakers ended up not scoring on the possession, and the Bulls scored the next four points to re-establish a nine-point lead.
The Lakers built a 13-point lead in the first quarter by feeding big men Pau Gasol (10 points in the quarter) and Lamar Odom (eight points) in the paint and keeping the Bulls out of the lane on the other end.
Los Angeles led 22-12 after the opening quarter, limiting Chicago to 5-for-20 shooting. The Lakers outscored the Bulls 16-6 in the paint in the period.
Chicago still had just 17 points midway through the second quarter before finishing the half with a flourish.
Rose returned from a rest and scored nine of his 14 first-half points in the final 7:19, leading the Bulls' 16-2 run to finish the quarter.
The Lakers shot just 4 for 15 in the second period and committed eight turnovers, several coming off careless passes.
The Bulls stretched their advantage to eight by the end of the third period as the game began to open up.
Led by Rose, its jet-fast point guard, Chicago began pushing the ball up the floor, outscoring the Lakers 7-0 on fast-break points in the third.
As it did in the first quarter, the Bulls' offense picked up when starting shooting guard Keith Bogans went to the bench. Brewer scored 10 points off the bench as his replacement.
NOTES: The Bulls held a 16-4 advantage in fast-break points through the first three quarters, with all the transition points coming after Los Angeles outscored Chicago 4-0 in that category in the first period.
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