Bryant leads Lakers over Bulls, 117-109
An assortment of Lakers fans at the United Center took it upon themselves to promote Kobe Bryant for the NBA's most prestigious individual award by chanting "MVP, MVP."
The real MVP in this game, though, was reserve guard Sashdan Farmacic, who piled up 13 points in the fourth quarter as the Los Angeles turned the game around and rallied for a 117-109 victory over the Bulls on Saturday.
Check that. Those are actually two people - Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic - who were responsible for the fourth-quarter comeback.
While the Bulls went 61/2 minutes without a field goal, the Lakers unleashed a 28-5 run that included 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. Bryant was on the bench for all but the final 7 points of that surge.
"They came in, executed well, played good defense while Kobe was over there resting," Bulls guard Ben Gordon said. "He just kind of came in and put the finishing touches on it."
Fortunately for the Bulls (32-38), they didn't lose much ground in the playoff chase as their closest competitors for the eighth spot in the East, Charlotte and Milwaukee, both lost Saturday.
The Bulls had things going their way most of the night. They finished the first quarter with a 30-11 run. After knocking down their first 6 shots of the second quarter, the home team was shooting a cozy 71.4 percent (20-for-28) from the field and held a 47-32 lead.
"They kind of overwhelmed us with their energy in the first half," Bryant said. "We wanted to come out and do the same."
The Bulls headed into the fourth quarter with a 6-point lead. Vujacic collected a foul against Gordon and a technical for barking to the referee with 11:15 remaining. Gordon hit 2 of the 3 free throws to give the Bulls an 89-81 advantage.
But the maligned Lakers reserves tied the score in rapid-fire fashion as Luke Walton hit a spinning drive, Vujacic knocked down a 3-pointer and Lamar Odom, the lone starter on the floor, added another 3.
After a pair of Gordon free throws put the Bulls ahead 93-92 with 8:39 left, their strong effort dissolved into a flurry of turnovers and missed shots. The Lakers trapped the ball on the perimeter and the Bulls had no answer as L.A. went on a 16-1 run.
"They had three guys in a matter of 10 feet and really clogged it strong side," center Brad Miller said. "We just weren't moving the ball enough. We all just got a little stagnant."
A well-rested Bryant (28 points, 7 assists, 5 steals) capped the run with an unguarded 3-pointer and the Lakers had a commanding 109-94 lead with 3:37 left.
The Bulls essentially used a seven-man rotation, with Derrick Rose, Gordon, Tyrus Thomas and John Salmons playing 39-42 minutes.
"The second half, we just didn't have anything," Gordon said. "They outplayed us on both ends."
Salmons led the Bulls with 30 points, hitting 10 of 15 shots. Rose was also very good, scoring 25 points, and Thomas collected a career-high 16 rebounds, along with 15 points and 3 blocks.
But the Bulls couldn't match the Lakers' 3-point barrage until Gordon and Salmons finally connected in the final 1:10. The good news for the Bulls is eight of their final 12 games are at home and the toughest opponent left on the schedule is Miami (36-32).