The Bulls blew a 19-point early third-quarter lead in losing. They fell to 3-12. The Lakers are 8-10.

Denzel Valentine led six Bulls in double figures with 17 points. Antonio Blakeney had 15 off the bench, all in the first half. Robin Lopez had 14, Lauri Markkanen 13 and 14 rebounds. But Markkanen shot just 4-of-17. Justin Holiday had 10 points and 10 rebounds and shot 2-of-12 and Kris Dunn had 12 and six assists.

It was a new face in the starting lineup with Dunn moving in for Jerian Grant, and the Bulls got some early results with a 27-23 first-quarter lead. It was Valentine with 11 points and a trio of 3-pointers in three attempts that helped. But the Bulls also slowed the Lakers, keeping rookie Lonzo Ball contained and holding the Lakers without a first-quarter fastbreak point. Blakeney had four points entering late in the first quarter. But it was just the beginning for the G-league call-up, who carried the Bulls on a 9-3 run to open the second quarter, Blakeney scoring all the points. Grant added a three and then Blakeney punctuated the 14-3 run to open the quarter with a slam dunk over Julius Randle which brought the Bulls bench to its feet and a technical for Blakeney for talking about it.

The Bulls from there kept the Lakers in control and led 56-42 at halftime. Blakeney had 15 in the half to lead the Bulls and Lopez 12. Kyle Kuzma led the Lakers with 18 at the half. The Bulls were 7-of-14 on threes in the first half and the Lakers 5-of-18. The Bulls had 16 first-half assists.

The Bulls sent the Lakers into a quick third-quarter timeout with a 5-0 start for a 61-42 lead. The Lakers attempted to get more into transition. But it was the Lakers defense which began to send the Bulls to more perimeter shots, which weren’t as accurate as earlier. The Lakers sliced their deficit to 69-59 as the Bulls also committed a pair of fouls on 3-point shots and were unable to handle the matchup with the Lakers’ Julius Randle, who had eight late third-quarter points after a scoreless first half. Randle was taking advantage of his quickness, but the Bulls then didn’t attack the smaller Randle and settled for long jump shots. By the end of the third quarter, the Bulls had given up almost the entire lead.

The Bulls led 75-72 entering the fourth quarter. The Bulls shot 6-of-23 in the third quarter on an excess of long, contested perimeter shots. The Lakers quickly tied the game at 80 less than three minutes into the fourth quarter. The Bulls eased ahead, 89-83, with Dunn making a jumper and finding Bobby Portis inside for a score. But the Bulls reverted to the outside while the Lakers attacked the rim and with an 11-0 run took a 94-89 lead with just over two minutes remaining as the Bulls fired away outside.

By Sam Smith for bulls.com