Josh Giddy could feel it as soon as the ball left his fingertips. In an instant, his teammates were upsetting him.
Giddey’s buzzing half-court heave rounded out what could be the wildest finish in the NBA this season, giving the Los Angeles Lakers a 119-117 victory on Thursday night.
“These guys, this is a special moment to do it with this team,” Giddie said.
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Meanwhile, the Lakers lost in a brave way after winning Indiana with LeBron James’ chip-in at the buzzer on Wednesday. According to Basketball-Reference.com, they are the fifth team in NBA history to win and lose on buzzer beaters on consecutive days. They also took it to their chin again from Chicago after being blown away by the Bulls in Los Angeles on Saturday.
“Devastation,” Lakers manager JJ Reddick said. “It’s hell of how to lose a basketball game.”
The Lakers led mid-quarter with 13, appearing to be in 115-110 form after Austin Reeves made two free throws with 12.6 seconds remaining and lost the eighth in 12 games. Before closing the four-game trip in Memphis, there are days they rock it.
“We put ourselves to win, and we gave up a lot of three in the fourth quarter, but we still put ourselves to win,” James said. “I misunderstood the horrific departure of myself, the play that preceded. AR tried to save us. Tie your hat.”
The Bulls made 11 of the 14 3-pointers fourth. They hammered three nails in the final 10 seconds, one nailed by Patrick Williams with 9.8 seconds left.
Giddy then stole a pass from James and gave Coby White a 3, putting the Bulls on top with 6.1 seconds left.
The Raves drove for a layup to give the Lakers a 3.3 seconds remaining 117-116 lead, Chicago had plenty of time to pull out the victory.
Giddie inbounded to Williams, regained the ball and pulled it up near the Bulls logo. He held the follow-through correctly until the shot fell through the net and was given the Bulls’ ninth victory in 11 games. And this was easily their wildest in recent memories.
The emotions shared by guard Kevin Harter in the X after the game.
“Amazing,” he wrote. “Probably the craziest game of my life.”
It’s just amazing. Probably the craziest game of my life
– Kevin Huerter (@kevinhuerter) March 28, 2025
“For six weeks since last month, we’ve shown that anyone can collapse,” Giddey said. “The way we play the game, I think it will tire people out. We go up and down. We run. We get them heat up and back. Many veteran teams don’t want to go back and move on.”
The Bulls looked like a sluggish team a month ago. They replaced Zack Lavine for Sacramento before the deadline, appearing to be packing it after six consecutive losses left a 22-35 record. Since then, they have been 11-5 and are not just picking weaker teams. They defeated the Lakers and Denver twice in the last three games, beating Denver and beat Indiana during this stretch.
Giddey and White have been in their best lately.
Giddey delivered his fifth triple double on Thursday with 25 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists. More Bulls players during the season were 15-year-old Michael Jordan from 1988-89. According to basketball references, his feat is also a triple double and winning buzzer beater that makes him a triple double in NBA history.
White finished with 26 points after scoring over 35 in three career-high straight games, but the Bulls simply didn’t quit. Coach Billy Donovan said it settled in September while training players at the team’s facilities before the start of training camp.
“We have to be in great shape to play like this,” he said. “They have to push themselves. I think a lot of that was plundered when they all came back in September before training camp began. They played most of the pickup games with a 14-second shot clock to curb such a mentality.
This report uses information from the Associated Press.
