Score: CHI 48 LAL 59
Alright, welcome in to the halftime post of the Lakers' matchup with the Chicago Bulls where the Lakers lead against Pau Gasol, Derrick Rose and the Bulls 48-59 at the half.
The Positives
Bench mob. No Nick Young? No problem. Tuesday's game against the Wizards was atrocious for the Lakers' bench with the exception of Ed Davis, but here tonight I'm seeing great balance in terms of contribution from the bench. Carlos Boozer has 14 points, Jeremy Lin, Ed Davis, both with 8 points. Everything is going right, Lin being aggressive and pushing the tempo, Boozer, being aggressive inside, Ed Davis being aggressive in the paint as usual, bench mob is doing much better without Nick Young's scoring.
Jordan Hill, 11 points, 5-10 shooting. From what I'm hearing on the sidelines, Hill is adjusting his game in the inside rather than the outside. If you recall the Christmas, Hill was just settling for jump shots and not taking it to Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah on the inside. Now, Hill adjusted and he is holding off his own against the Bulls' inside presence. That dunk and 1 in that late 2nd quarter was awesome and speaks for how Hill is performing this game so far.
The Negatives
Foul trouble. Lakers have 11 fouls compared to the Bulls with 3 fouls. You can't try to contain Gasol and Noah any better when they're posting or if D. Rose is driving to hoop. The foul trouble is a minor negative for now and the only one I can pinpoint considering I'm just posting on one quarter.
Bottom Line
The Lakers haven't trailed at all this game, but they can't let their guard down. Last game they had a pretty comfy lead against the Wizards before they rallied back to beat the Lakers in the 2nd half. Lakers have to remind themselves this is a 48 minute game. They have to continue this kind of effort and most important of all CLOSE OUT, especially against this Bulls team that is just coming off a grueling OT win against the Warriors in this back-to-back set.
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