Pau Gasol’s return to the line-up helped the Los Angeles Lakers cruise past the visiting Chicago Bulls 108-93 at Staples Center. Gasol, (24 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 blocked shot), showed little rust as his presence in the post opened up the floor for the rest of his teammates. Kobe Bryant (21 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists) added to the balanced attack and surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for second place on the Lakers all-time scoring list. Kobe, with 24,276 points, trails only Jerry West with 25,192 points amassed in his Lakers career. The Bulls came into Thursday night’s game having only scored over 100 points once all season. And with the offensive weapons that the Lakers had at their disposal, it was only a matter of time before the onslaught was on.
Ron Artest (15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals) seemed to find his place in the offense, getting uncontested shots from the perimeter as the Bulls defense collapsed on the Laker bigs occupying the paint. Andrew Bynum (11 points, 8 rebounds) continued his string of good performances although he appeared a little lost with Gasol also in the post. It was a game of “pick your poison” as the Lakers found the open man by swinging the ball. Derek Fisher (12 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists) was a perfect 5-5 from the field and 2-2 from the charity stripe. Lamar Odom (11 points, 8 rebounds) helped solidify the play of the bench as Jordan Farmar (8 points, 2 assists, 3 steals) benefitted from his leadership and presence on the floor.
Derek Rose (20 points, 6 assists) led Chicago but got little help from Luol Deng (6 points, 6 rebounds) and John Salmons (18 points, but all in the first half). Brad Miller (15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) and Joakim Noah (12 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals) rounded out the scorecard for the Bulls. The Lakers committed only 12 turnovers, out-rebounded the Bulls 51-44 and outscored them in the paint, 60-40. Next up for the 9-3 Lakers is a contest against the 6-6 OKC Thunder on Sunday.
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