The Lakers’ road trip has been anything but smooth-weather delays out of Dallas, a long travel day to Chicago-but once they hit the hardwood Monday night, they didn’t miss a beat. In a 129-118 win over the Bulls, Los Angeles put together one of their more complete performances of the season, taking control early and never letting go.
Let’s start with the obvious: the Lakers’ offense was humming. Neither team came out with much defensive intensity, but once L.A. started stringing together stops, the transition game opened up-and that’s where LeBron James thrives.
A couple of early leak-outs gave James easy buckets and set the tone. Luka Doncic, who had been facilitating early, shifted into scoring mode with 10 quick points, including two from deep, to keep the momentum rolling.
Rui Hachimura continues to make the most of his bench role. The forward checked in and immediately provided a spark, knocking down three shots in quick succession to help push the Lakers to a 35-31 lead by the end of the first quarter.
That run didn’t stop there. Hachimura stayed hot in the second, and James kept attacking, stretching the lead into double digits.
Defensively, the Lakers started clamping down in the second quarter, forcing turnovers and turning them into points. Jake LaRavia and Marcus Smart each knocked down threes during that stretch, and L.A. went into the half up 69-56. Chicago made a brief push just before the break, closing on a 7-0 run, but the Lakers still held a comfortable cushion.
The third quarter got dicey. The Bulls came out firing, hitting eight of their first 10 shots, most of them from beyond the arc.
The Lakers’ lead began to shrink, and the energy inside the United Center started to shift. But once again, Hachimura delivered timely buckets, and Doncic orchestrated another run to restore order.
By the end of the third, the Lakers were back up 104-89.
The Bulls tried to mount one last surge in the fourth. Deandre Ayton got beat on a couple of backdoor cuts, and Chicago chipped the deficit down to single digits.
But any hopes of a comeback were short-lived. Doncic buried a pair of threes to shut the door, and Jaxson Hayes threw down a flashy through-the-legs dunk in transition that brought the bench-and the crowd-to its feet.
Doncic was the engine behind it all, finishing with a monster stat line: 46 points, seven rebounds, and 11 assists. It was another reminder of just how much he can control a game when he’s in rhythm.
With the win, the Lakers improve to 3-1 on this season-long eight-game road trip. Next up: a stop in Cleveland on Wednesday night. If this does end up being LeBron’s final season, that game could carry a little extra weight-it might be his last time stepping onto the court in the city where it all began.