Josh Giddey isn’t a clutch hero.
The Chicago Bulls guard can’t remember ever hitting a game-winner in his professional career. He admitted he isn’t particularly proficient at half-court shots, ranking relatively low among teammates when the Bulls jack up attempts while goofing around after practice.
And yet.
The moment the ball parted with Giddey’s hand in the final second of Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Giddey knew. The backboard lit up red. The buzzer sounded. And Giddey had won the game.
It took an entire second for the ball to find the basket. In that second, Giddey never dropped his hand, holding his follow-through in unfettered faith that his shot was destined to make it to the rim. His arm didn’t drop until after the buzzer sounded, after the ball sank through the net without kissing the rim, after his teammates dragged him across the court and into the United Center stands.
It should have been impossible. But for the Bulls — who prevailed 119-117 for their ninth win in 11 games — that word is beginning to mean less and less.
“As soon as I left my fingertips, it looked good,” Giddey said afterward, the game ball tucked under his arm. “It looked straight. It just felt good. It was just really special. It was a hell of a team effort. We’ll enjoy this one.”
It’s important to understand this: The Bulls should have been down and out. They trailed by 18 early in the fourth quarter and by double digits in the final five minutes. The Lakers landed two resounding blows that should have served as daggers. Giddey already had missed a shot that potentially would have cut the Bulls’ deficit to one point with 13 seconds remaining, reverting to his old-school floater in a crucial misstep.
The Bulls trailed 115-110 with 12.6 seconds remaining. But a lot can change in that time.
First, Giddey inbounded a pass from the sideline to Nikola Vučević, who swung a pass in midair to hit Patrick Williams for a corner 3 to cut the deficit to two with 10 seconds to play.
LeBron James grabbed the ball to inbound. Giddey sprang up to contest the ensuing pass, a lazy bounce that deflected off the guard’s hands with surprising ease. After three dribbles, Giddey kicked the ball out to Coby White, who immediately lofted his fifth and final 3-pointer of the game.
The Bulls led 116-115 with 6.3 seconds remaining.
The Lakers advanced the ball, setting up a sideline out-of-bounds play that gave Austin Reaves enough room to wiggle past Williams and land a crushing layup, giving the Lakers a one-point lead with 3.5 seconds to play.
It should have been over. But March is when the improbable happens.
Giddey inbounded to Williams, accepted a pass back, took a single dribble and launched a shot over James with something more confident than a prayer. It went in and gave the Bulls the win, leaving fans stumbling out of the United Center in confusion — and carrying a rare glimmer of hope with them.
“The probability of us winning that game is probably very low, but we defied the odds,” said White, who led the Bulls with 26 points. “I’m going to remember that for the rest of my life.”
Giddey finished with 25 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists for his fifth triple-double of the season and second against the Lakers in six days. Reaves scored 30 points for the visitors, Luka Dončić had 25 points and 10 rebounds and James added 17 points and 12 assists.
Here are four takeaways from the win.
1. Third-quarter collapse.
Bulls fans have seen this movie plenty of times before — an assertive start to take a first-half lead followed by a midgame collapse that squandered an entire advantage.
The slump began before the first half was even over. The Lakers began to mount an offensive midway through the second quarter, chipping away at a 12-point deficit. Gabe Vincent hit a 3-pointer in the final second of the half, sending the Lakers into the locker room with a one-point advantage.
But the third quarter is where the game turned. The Bulls scored only 17 points in the quarter, a dismal offensive showing that featured 1-for-10 shooting from behind the arc. The Lakers scored six points off four Bulls turnovers in the quarter.
2. Coby White powered the fourth-quarter rally.
The Bulls exited the third quarter in a 16-point hole.
White scored zero points in the third after missing four shots from the floor, a crucial symptom of the
Bulls’ loss of rhythm. But he quickly regained his footing in the fourth, ripping off eight consecutive points at the top of the frame to kickstart the rally.
The Bulls shot 11-for-14 from 3-point range in the final quarter. White accounted for four of those while Kevin Huerter went 3-for-3, including one with 46 seconds to play that cut the deficit to 111-110.
The Bulls ultimately scored 44 points in the fourth — compared with 26 from the Lakers — to pull off the comeback. White scored 15 of those points on 5-for-6 shooting.
3. Losing the paint.
The Bulls completely flipped the script in their last 10 games, leading the league in that span with 59 points per game in the paint after sustaining most of their offense from behind the 3-point arc to start the season. This paint production was spearheaded by Giddey and White, who have made a meal out of forcing their way to the rim — and drawing fouls to earn extra points.
But that trend ground to a halt against the Lakers, who thoroughly outmatched the Bulls in the paint to offset their own subpar 3-point shooting. The Lakers outscored the Bulls 60-46 in the paint, bolstered by a strong performance from center Jaxson Hayes and the bludgeoning presence of James.
4. Where do the Bulls stand?
The Bulls extended their winning streak to four as they continue an arduous, unexpected climb up the Eastern Conference standings. And it marked only the 14th win in 36 home games this season.
Most importantly, the ninth-place Bulls (33-40) maintained their one-game lead over the Miami Heat (32-41) and pulled within 1½ games of the eighth-place Orlando Magic (35-39). The Bulls face a tough task to jump the Magic in the final nine games of the season. But that prospect has never been more tangible than on the heels of the recent hot streak.
In their current position, the Bulls would have home-court advantage for the opening game of the play-in tournament. They still would need to win two games — first against the No. 10 seed, then over the loser of the 7-8 matchup — to advance to the first round of the playoffs.
If the Bulls remain in ninth, they would only be able to compete for the No. 8 seed, which likely would result in a first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Leapfrogging the Magic would give the Bulls a chance to compete for the No. 7 seed — and an equally daunting matchup against the Boston Celtics.
