CHICAGO -- LeBron's Lakers matchup with the Bulls for the first time this season, and what began as a lopsided game, turned out to be an instant NBA Classic.
The Bulls got up early on the Lakers in the first quarter. Their execution was perfect, and led 32-18. The Bulls continued their perfect play in the 2nd and led by as much as 22. Lebron and AD started to hit shots late, but the lead was still 19 going into the half.
The Bulls shot a whopping 61% from the field in the first half. They also held the Lakers to 38% shooting. Jordan had 24 first half points.
In the 3rd quarter, Lebron and AD continued their momentum from the 2nd quarter, while the Bulls started missing. Davis would score 15 pts, while Lebron had 8 and dished out 6 dimes in the period. Jordan was the only one working offensively here for the Bulls, had 15 pts in the 3rd. No one else aside from Pippen (who had 5), would score for the Bulls in the 3rd.
The lead is down to 9 going into the 4th, 77-68.
Lebron came into the 4th in attack mode and it carried over to the rest of the team. They went on a 10-1 run to start and tied the game at 78 in the first 3 minutes of the quarter. The Lakers then took their first lead of the game after a reverse 3-pt play, where Howard followed up on a missed James FT. The Bulls continued to be cold, and turned the ball over a few times, and the Lakers completed a 19-3 run, to take command of the game with a 7 pt lead, 87-80,
The Bulls, however, did not fold. Michael Jordan came back from a brief rest in the bench, and led the Bulls on their own rally. And it all started with Defense. Bulls regained a 2 pt lead going into the last 2 minutes of the game. James would continue to respond for the Lakers, and scored on a 3-pointer to regain the lead by 1 with 1:50 remaining.
The pivotal play of the game was at the 1:30 mark. Bulls were hanging on to a 1 point lead. James had the ball on a pick and roll. He drove and threw a beautiful alley-oop pass to AD (a play they've run a million times). However, Pippen, with his long wingspan, was able to interfere the alley-oop pass from behind AD, and then Rodman grabbed the loose ball. On the next play, Jordan would drive baseline and did one of his most Jordaneesque moves - a switch of hands in mid air to avoid the long outstretched arms of McGee. He would score and put the Bulls lead back up to 3. It was a pivotal 4 pt swing in the game.
James would continue to fight thru the end, but the Bulls made enough free throws in the end to earn the W.
Michael Jordan scored 53 pts in this game, with 5 assts, 2 stls 1 blk. Pippen added 21 pts ,10 assists, 4 stls and 1 blk. Rodman had an unusual double double with 15 rebs and 11 assts.
LeBron was crowned POG and filled the stat sheet with 32 pts 6 rebs 13 assts 6 stls 1 blk. Anthony Davis finished with 28 pts and 7 rebs
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