After pulling off a Holiday Miracle against the Golden State Warriors at home, the Los Angeles Lakers got a large pile of coal after absorbing a 113-93 beating at the hands of Eastern Conference powerhouse Chicago Bulls at the United Center.
For the second straight game, Lakers head coach Byron Scott decided to give superstar Kobe Bryant a day off. But unlike Tuesday’s 115-105 surprise win against the NBA’s best Warriors, Scott’s Mamba-less experiment didn’t pan out well against a very loaded Bulls team.
After conceding an 11-point lead to the Bulls at the end of the first-half, the Lakers came through with an 11-2 run to put them two points behind, 58-60, at 9:52 mark of the third quarter.
However, the Bulls defense started to make driving lanes tighter for the Lakers, while Jimmy Butler and Pau Gasol teamed up to steamroll Chicago’s offense. And in the fourth quarter, former NBA MVP Derrick Rose once again delivered the goods at crunch time, scoring seven points in the last three minutes to keep the Lakers at bay for good.
Butler finished the game with 21 points, 5 assists and 6 rebounds while Rose recorded 20 points and 6 dimes. Gasol tallied 23 points and 13 rebounds against his former team, albeit without his friend Kobe Bryant, who was pulled out of the lineup hours before the Bulls-Lakers Christmas Day special.
Wesley Johnson led way with 19 points and Jordan Hill tallied 16 points in 31 minutes of playing time for the Lakers, who now dropped to 9-20 in the season.
Decreasing Role for J-Lin
Jeremy Lin recorded six points on 2-for-8 shooting with two assists and two dimes in 19 minutes on Thursday. Seeking for a major role after he was traded by the Houston Rockets to the Lakers during the offseason, the 26-year old Lin found his minutes decreasing as the season progresses with Ronnie Price now logging over 30 minutes over the past 5 games.
After averaging at least 31 minutes per game in November, Lin’s playing time has been cut down to just 20 minutes per contest. This drop in playing time has greatly affected his production this month, as he’s averaging 7.3 points and 4.3 assists in December – a clear indication the Scott has already lost his trust on Lin to perform at point guard spot.
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