LOS ANGELES (AP) – LeBron James scored 28 points, had seven rebounds and provided as many assists as the Los Angeles Lakers overcame the absence of two starters due to injury and beat the Chicago Bulls 117- 115 Friday night.
Zach LaVine finished with 38 points, but the UCLA forward missed a 17-foot basket with 4.7 seconds left in the game that would have overtaken Chicago.
Montrezl Harrell had 17 points and 14 tables for the reigning NBA champions, who have won five of their last six games. James and Harrell set the tone as Los Angeles held the guy off the Bulls in the dying moments of the game without injured starters Anthony Davis and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
LaVine converted 19 points in the first quarter for the Bulls, who conceded their second straight loss to California after an impressive victory in Portland.
Dennis Schröder scored 17 points and a triple with 2:39 from the final buzzer that put the Lakers ahead 113-107, but Chicago reduced the lead to 116-115 with a triple from Garrett Temple with 37 seconds remaining, before the failure of LaVine.
Wesley Matthews had 14 points, including four triples, in his first start with the Lakers at 34.
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