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Bulls Stun Lakers With Wildest Comeback of NBA Season on Josh Giddey Half-Court Shot

Chicago scored nine points in the game's final 10 seconds to knock off Los Angeles.

Dan Lyons

Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey drains halfcourt buzzer-beater to beat the Los Angeles Lakers.
Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey drains halfcourt buzzer-beater to beat the Los Angeles Lakers. / via Chicago Bulls
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The Chicago Bulls trailed the Los Angeles Lakers 115–110 with just 12.6 seconds remaining in Thursday night's game at the United Center. Any comeback in that situation would be incredible. The way the Bulls pulled it off was absolutely miraculous.

Center Nikola Vucevic found forward Patrick Williams open in the corner for a three to cut L.A.'s lead to two points. On the ensuing inbounds play, guard Josh Giddey stole a bounce pass from LeBron James, quickly kicking the ball out to Coby White who drained a three to give Chicago a 116–115 lead, scoring six points in less than six seconds of game time.

The 6.1 seconds left on the clock was too much time, however.

The Lakers advanced the ball on a timeout and Luka Doncic inbounded the ball to Austin Reaves, who quickly slashed to the basket for a go-ahead layup.

Chicago wasn't done. Without a timeout available, Giddey, who made the game-saving defensive play just seconds earlier, passed it in to Williams, who gave it right back to him. The Lakers gave him some daylight from the half-court logo, and he drilled a game-winning buzzer beater.

Giddey was absolutely mobbed by his teammates after hitting the shot, with the Bulls providing an incredible view from behind the bench at the end of the dramatic 119–117 win.

If there's a more electric finish in all of basketball this year, we'd love to see it.

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Dan Lyons
DAN LYONS

Dan Lyons is a staff writer and editor on Sports Illustrated's Breaking and Trending News team. He joined SI for his second stint in November 2024 after a stint as a senior college football writer at Athlon Sports, and a previous run with SI spanning multiple years as a writer and editor. Outside of sports, you can find Dan at an indie concert venue or movie theater.

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