Chicago Bulls fall apart in second half against Los Angeles Lakers

The Chicago Bulls fell to the Los Angeles Lakers 103-94 on Tuesday night in a battle of two teams lottery bound. In a way, you could say the Bulls walked away from this game victors.

Kris Dunn got the start over Jerian Grant tonight, a welcome sight. I’ve had enough of Grant’s awful handle and bricks from three. His weird jog-run with the ball has always been an eyesore to me as well.

Grant only played 16 minutes tonight compared to Dunn’s 32. Hopefully that minute distribution stays the same the rest of the season.

First quarter

The Chicago Bulls and Denzel Valentine had a solid start to the game. Denzel scored 11 points, including three made 3-pointers in the first quarter. Dunn did a solid job distributing, but his block on Lonzo Ball was truly a sight to behold.

End of first: Chicago 27 – Los Angeles 23

Second quarter

Chicago built up a sizable lead on Los Angeles in the second quarter, outscoring the Lakers by 10. The Bulls effort was there on defense and limited Los Angeles to just 19 points in the frame.

Antonio Blakeney decided it was his world and we were all just living in it. Blakeney scored 11 points in the first three and a half minutes of the second and also sprinkled in an assist to Grant.

Blakeney channeled his inner Kobe, subsisting on tough pull up jumpers, but he was feeling it and got the shots to drop.

Then, he decided it was time to baptize Julius Randle.

Blakeney let fellow SEC-alum Randle know about it after the play too and got a technical. Let em talk trash refs!

Blakeney’s play was the highlight of tonight’s game and should earn him some more minutes. Please take them away from Justin Holiday. He’s going to kill me playing 41 minutes and shooting 2-of-12.

End of second: Chicago 56 – Los Angeles 42

Third quarter

Chicago entered halftime with a big lead, then decided losing this game would actually be better. That’s what we’re going with.

Los Angeles outscored the Bulls by 11 in the third. The Bulls couldn’t hit a shot to save their lives and the shots they were taking weren’t exactly helping either.

Bobby Portis tried his hand at baptizing Randle, but was turned away.

And we got this absolute gift of a possession by everybody’s favorite point guard, Jerian Grant, toward the end of the quarter.

Wonderful. No wonder this team struggles holding on to leads.

End of the third: Chicago 75 – Los Angeles 72

Fourth quarter

After a rough third quarter, the Bulls were up three entering the fourth. The start of the quarter looked similar to Chicago’s sloppy play in the third as they took contested, ill-advised shots.

Lauri Markkanen got a lot of open looks in the fourth and just couldn’t get them to go in. He had a number of 3-pointers down the stretch that he normally makes and against the Lakers they just didn’t drop. It’s good to see that he didn’t let it affect his confidence and keep from shooting.

Brandon Ingram and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope keyed Los Angeles in the fourth. Caldwell-Pope hit two 3s and Ingram was relentless driving the rim.

The homestretch of this game, chock full of garbage shots and aimless dribbling, showed just how young the Bulls are. It’s going to be a long year, but there were some promising signs. Hopefully Blakeney continues to get minutes and impress.

Final score: Chicago 94 – Los Angeles 103