Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick was left frustrated after his team suffered a 117-119 loss against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night. Josh Giddey won the thriller for the Bulls with a 47-foot 3-pointer from beyond halfcourt.
The Lakers led by as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter and were up by five with 12.6 seconds left after two free throws by Austin Reaves but towards the end, they veered off the track and thus had to pay the price.
“Devastation,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said after the loss. “It’s a hell of a way to lose a basketball game.”
LeBron James said they were in a shoo-in position but he conceded a horrible turnover, which helped the Bulls bounce back.
“We put ourselves in position to win, gave up a lot of 3s in the fourth quarter, still put ourselves in position to win,” James said. “Horrible turnover by myself, miscommunication the play before that. AR tried to save us. Tip your hats.”
Austin Reaves also admitted that he contributed to the miscue.
“I think the miscommunication might’ve been I was trying to hold [his defender] off instead of popping to the ball,” he said. “I take just as much as responsibility as I’m sure he did. Hopefully, we’ll talk about it and figure it out so next time that won’t happen.”
“It sucks,” said Reaves, who had 30 points on 10-for-17 shooting. “We probably had a high-percentage chance of winning after my layup went in. There’s not many half-court buzzer-beaters to lose a game. And it’s just, it’s frustrating.”
Giddey said he was surprised at how easily he was able to steal the ball from James.
“He kind of just bounced it,” Giddey, who had 25 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists, said of James’ errant pass. “I was surprised at how easy I was able to grab it.”
The Lakers will next take on the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.
