Anthony Davis, LeBron James power Lakers past Bulls

CHICAGO – At 38, LeBron James is fighting against not only his opponents on the court, but also his own body.

The Los Angeles Lakers star has said that he is aiming to build up his stamina, especially as he was recently sidelined for a month because of a foot injury and has not played much basketball.

“By the end of the road trip, I should be pretty good,” he said on ESPN, after the Lakers’ 121-110 National Basketball Association (NBA) road win over the Chicago Bulls at the United Centre on Wednesday night.

“I’m just trusting the work that I’ve been putting in. I know I put in a lot of work. I know my body.”

James had 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists in his second game back from injury, while Anthony Davis led the team with 38 points and 10 rebounds.

The duo were a combined 23-for-39 (58.9 per cent) from the floor as Los Angeles avenged Sunday’s 118-108 home loss to Chicago.

The Lakers (38-38) won for the fourth time in five games to tie New Orleans for eighth place in the Western Conference.

Austin Reaves added 19 points for Los Angeles. D’Angelo Russell, who had missed the past two games with right hip soreness, had 17 points in the opener of a five-game road trip.

Balanced scoring and steady rebounding boosted the team to a 59-51 half-time lead.

Davis led with 16 points, while James (13) and Reaves (12) followed. The Lakers scored 17 second-chance points in the first half. They continued where they left off after the interval, outscoring the Bulls 26-25 and 36-34 in the third and fourth quarters respectively.

“Just wanted to try to put them in some uncomfortable positions with their defence. And sort of spread the ball around a little bit, not overdose on any one or two actions... and see what was bringing us the most returns,” Los Angeles coach Darvin Ham said.

Despite losing their second straight game, the Bulls (36-40) maintained a two-game lead on the Washington Wizards for the No. 10 seed in the East and the final slot in the conference’s play-in tournament.

Nikola Vucevic registered a double-double of 29 points and 12 rebounds for Chicago.

DeMar DeRozan (22 points), Coby White (17), Zach LaVine (16) and Ayo Dosunmu (12) also finished with double digits.

White dished a game-high nine assists. The loss also snapped a three-game series winning streak for the Bulls, who have not defeated the Lakers in four straight games since the 1991 NBA Finals.

Los Angeles have won nine of their last 12 meetings against Chicago.

“Obviously, we didn’t close the (first) half very well. And in the third quarter, LeBron made some tough shots and then our inability to score with them hurt us,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said.

Andre Drummond missed the game for the Bulls due to personal reasons. He had previously tweeted his intent to delete social media to focus on his mental health.

Elsewhere, Jrue Holiday poured in a career-high 51 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo posted his fifth triple-double of the season to inspire Eastern Conference leaders Milwaukee Bucks to a 149-136 away win over the Indiana Pacers.

Holiday became the sixth player in Bucks franchise history to record 50 points in a game. Antetokounmpo has also accomplished the feat, as has Khris Middleton.

Holiday went 20-for-30 from the field, also sinking three of six shot attempts from beyond the arc for Milwaukee (55-21).

In the fastest triple-double of his career, Antetokounmpo finished with 38 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists in just 22 minutes.

Indiana were led by rookie Bennedict Mathurin, who supplied 29 points and nine rebounds. 
REUTERS, AFP