The Los Angeles Lakers dropped a heartbreaking loss to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night despite leading for the majority of the game. Los Angeles allowed the Bulls to score 44 points in the fourth quarter to earn the comeback win.
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But the ending to the game can only be described as a meltdown from the Lakers. The team held a multiple-point lead with seconds to go, but careless defense and turnovers cost them.
To start, star forward LeBron James turned the ball over while the Lakers were up two. This led to a 3-point shot from the Bulls, giving them the lead.
Los Angeles retook the lead with under four seconds left in the game. But guard Josh Giddey then hit an incredible half-court buzzer-beater to sink the Lakers.
It was a total team collapse against the Bulls, but James took ownership of the loss. James went on social media and took the blame for how the game went.
The Lakers star was responding to a friend asking him what happened in the game.
“Yeah that one on me for sure!! Won’t happen again My bad for fkn your 8 hrs of sleep up”
Yeah that one on me for sure!! Won’t happen againMy bad for fkn your 8 hrs of sleep up
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 28, 2025
This was a poorly timed loss for the Lakers as they are currently battling for playoff positioning. Within the tight Western Conference playoff picture, teams are separated by just a handful of games.
This makes every game that much more important, and Los Angeles blew a great opportunity. The Lakers currently sit in the No. 4 spot of the Western Conference standings, holding a record of 44-29 for the season.
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They are tied with the Memphis Grizzlies record-wise, but are only a couple of games from falling to the Play-In standings. Los Angeles will need to make sure they brings their best effort as the regular season winds down.
The Lakers will be taking on the Grizzlies on Saturday, giving them a chance to put some distance between them and Memphis. But the schedule doesn’t ease up for Los Angeles the rest of the way.
The team is scheduled to play the Houston Rockets twice, the Oklahoma City Thunder twice, the Dallas Mavericks, and the Golden State Warriors. This is a tough way to end the year, but it will test Los Angeles before the playoffs start.
If they can come away with a decent record in these games, a top-four seed is completely in the cards. But they can’t afford to make silly errors any longer with time running out before the postseason.
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