Lakers on roll, rally past Bulls
KUZMA, POPE WIPE OUT 19-PT DEFICIT WITH 33 MARKERS
LOS ANGELES – Kyle Kuzma had 22 points, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 11 of his 21 in the fourth quarter and the Los Angeles Lakers rallied from a 19-point deficit in the second half for a 103-94 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night.
Brandon Ingram had 17 points, five rebounds and five assists as the Lakers won consecutive games for the second time this season.
Los Angeles had a miserable first half and trailed 61-42 early in the second, but put together a 38-19 run. Caldwell-Pope’s layup with 3:08 to play gave the Lakers their first lead since the first quarter.
Caldwell-Pope added back-to-back 3-pointers to get the LA crowd on its feet. After Ingram made a difficult layup with 1:16 left, Caldwell-Pope alertly kept a loose ball alive after Lonzo Ball missed a 3-pointer, allowing the Lakers to seal their first win over the Bulls at Staples Center in three tries.
Denzel Valentine scored 17 points and Antonio Blakeney added 15 all in the first half for the Bulls, who dropped to 3-12 with their seventh loss in eight games.
Kris Dunn had 12 points and six assists in his second start of the season for Chicago.
Ball had eight points, 13 rebounds and four assists. After posting his second career triple-double Sunday against Denver, the touted rookie missed seven of his first eight shots against Chicago, but provided strong playmaking down the stretch.
The NBA’s worst shooting team hit seven 3s in the first half while taking an 18-point lead over the step-slow Lakers. Blakeney was a rookie surprise, hitting a career-high six shots in the opening minutes while the Bulls surged well ahead.
Los Angeles committed 13 firsthalf turnovers, played poor defense and would have been buried without Kuzma’s gritty scoring.