NAN-S-4
Basketball
Los Angeles, Nov. 22, 2017(Reuters/NAN) Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 11 of his 21 points in the closing minutes as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied from a 19-point second-half deficit to defeat the Chicago Bulls 103-94 on Tuesday at Staples Centre.
Kyle Kuzma scored a game-high 22 points, Brandon Ingram added 17 points, Jordan Clarkson scored 12 off the bench and Julius Randle contributed 10 in a reserve role for Los Angeles (8-10).
Denzel Valentine shot 5 of 7 from 3-point range and scored 17 points to lead five starters in double figures for the Bulls (3-12).
Antonio Blakeney on a two-way contract that allows him to split time between the Bulls and their G-League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls scored 15 off the bench for Chicago.
The Lakers rallied to tie the score at 80 on a layup by Josh Hart with 9:32 left. Los Angeles finally went ahead 89-87 when Caldwell-Pope put back a missed 3-pointer with 3:06 remaining.
Caldwell-Pope followed with two 3-pointers that stretched the lead to five each time and the Lakers kept Chicago from getting back within one possession.
The Bulls took their biggest lead at 61-42 with 10:29 left in the third quarter.
An 8-2 run pulled Los Angeles within 13 but the Lakers didn’t begin to make a charge until Clarkson replaced Lonzo Ball and joined Kuzma, Randle, Caldwell-Pope and Hart.
The Lakers cut the deficit to one on a 3-pointer by Clarkson with 35 seconds left in the third quarter and then trailed 75-72 entering the fourth.
Behind double-digit first-half scoring efforts from Blakeney (15), Robin Lopez (12) and Valentine (11), the Bulls led by as many as 18 before taking a 56-42 lead into the break.
Blakeney entered with 4:58 left in the first quarter and scored 15 points in his first eight minutes, including 11 straight for the Bulls during one stretch, helping Chicago to a 41-26 lead. (Reuters/NAN)
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Edited by Emmanuel Okara/Silas Nwoha