On Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers overcame a 19-point deficit to beat the Chicago Bulls 118-112. However, although many Lakers fans were elated at the gritty win, many of those who bet on the Lakers were severely disappointed.
The Bulls entered the game as 7-point underdogs and many were unsure if they could ever cover the spread, let alone win. The Bulls shocked everyone by building up a 19-point lead, on the other hand, and looking as though they might grab themselves a win. The Lakers struggled even into the fourth quarter, which they entered down by 13 points; Anthony Davis was only 4-13 from the field and the team was only shooting around 30% from behind the arc.
In the fourth quarter, however, the Lakers went on a tear. They absolutely locked down the Bulls defensively and went on a 16-0 run that gave them the lead.
Led by superstar LeBron James, the Lakers pulled ahead by 13 points with only two minutes left in the game, the scoreboard now reading 114-101. With this feverish display, the Lakers outscored the Bulls 34-8 in the first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter. The thought now that, not only were the Lakers headed towards a win, but they were also about to cover the 7-point spread after being in danger of losing the game entirely.
Chandler Hutchison, playing in just his first game for the Bulls this season, made sure that wouldn’t be the case.
With just under a minute left and the lead standing at 11, Hutchison drove inside and drew contact from Lakers’ big man Dwight Howard, scoring the layup and missing the free throw to cut the down to 9.
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The Lakers could’ve pushed the lead back past the threshold; however, Kyle Kuzma missed a three-pointer as the shot clock ticked down.
Refusing to just dribble out the clock, Shaquille Harrison drove down the court and kicked the ball to Hutchison beyond the three-point arc who drained it and cut the lead down to 6.
That would be how the game ended, the Lakers winning 118-112 and going home happy. Lakers’ bettors, on the other hand, did not end up quite as happy, seeing the game ripped away from them at the last minute. With the win, the Lakers improved to 6-1 on the year.
