LeBron James on Tuesday night had 36 points and 10 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers overcame a 20-point deficit to defeat the Chicago Bulls 123-107 and end a five-game losing streak.
James played 33 minutes and showed no signs of letting up with the Lakers barely hanging on in the playoff race.
He took over after the Lakers’ 14-point lead was cut to four with 8 minutes, 38 seconds left, making a jumper and then going through the lane for a thunderous dunk on the next possession.
James did not stop there, hitting a three-pointer over 2.1m-tall Robin Lopez and capping it off when Josh Hart passed the ball off the backboard to James, who finished with a reverse dunk to put the Lakers up 115-101 with 5 minutes remaining.
Kyle Kuzma added 21 points after missing two games with an ankle injury.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 24 points off the bench for the Lakers, who outscored the Bulls 43-24 in the third quarter.
Lopez scored 20 points and had seven rebounds, while Otto Porter Jr finished with 19 for the Bulls.
With Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram ruled out for the season, James put on a show at United Center like he did so many times as a member of the Cavaliers and the Heat.
The Bulls outscored the Lakers 11-1 after he checked out in the first quarter to lead 34-16 at the end of the period.
The Bulls led 60-55 at the half. Ryan Arcidiacono and Lopez led Chicago with 12 apiece.
James finished with 16 points and seven rebounds in the half and Caldwell-Pope added 11 points.
James continued the momentum in the third quarter. He scored the first six points for Los Angeles, including a breakaway reverse dunk from Kuzma.
The Lakers took a 66-64 lead when James found Kuzma for a layup with 8 minutes, 49 seconds in the third quarter. Kuzma, who scored 12 points in the period, made a trey to ignite a 16-0 run late in the quarter.
Rajon Rondo buried a three-pointer to give the Lakers a 98-84 lead going into the fourth.
In other games on Tuesday, the Indiana Pacers defeated the New York Knicks 103-98, the Philadelphia 76ers overpowered the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-99 and the Milwaukee Bucks crushed the New Orleans Pelicans 130-113.
Elsewhere, the San Antonio Spurs beat the Dallas Mavericks 112-105, the Denver Nuggets demolished the Minnesota Timberwolves 133-107 and the Portland Trail Blazers crushed the Los Angeles Clippers 125-104.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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