Coby White, Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey led the hot-shooting Chicago Bulls to a 146-115 win over the host Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night, spoiling the returns of LeBron James and Rui Hachimura.
White finished with 36 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the field, making 6-of-9 attempts from 3-point range for Chicago. Buzelis, a rookie, added 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting. Giddey perhaps one-upped them both, notching his 15th career triple-double by tallying 15 points, 17 assists and 10 rebounds. Giddey was also a decisive factor on defense with eight steals.
Luka Doncic led the way for the Lakers (43-27), scoring 34 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including 8 threes. Doncic scored 29 in the first half to keep it close briefly. Austin Reaves added 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting, while James chipped in 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting. He added six rebounds and four assists.
James played in his first game since leaving the Lakers’ 111-101 loss in Boston on March 8 with a groin injury. The Lakers went 3-4 in James’ absence, and they have lost six of their last nine overall.
Tyrese Haliburton returned to the Indiana lineup from a three-game absence to put up 16 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds, and the Pacers rallied after nearly coughing up a 20-point lead to hold off Brooklyn in Indianapolis.
Pascal Siakam scored a game-high 26 points while Obi Toppin scored 10 points off the bench as one of five Indiana scorers in double figures. Myles Turner finished with 22 points and eight rebounds, while Bennedict Mathurin went for 13 points off the bench.
