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JJ Redick Summed Up Lakers' Stunning Buzzer-Beater Loss to Bulls With Just One Word

Tom Dierberger

JJ Redick and the Lakers dropped to 44–29 with a loss to Chicago on Thursday night.
JJ Redick and the Lakers dropped to 44–29 with a loss to Chicago on Thursday night. / Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images
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It's been a roller-coaster couple of days for the Los Angeles Lakers.

One night after LeBron James's buzzer-beating tip-in snapped the Lakers' losing skid, Los Angeles found itself back in the L column with a 119–117 loss to the Chicago Bulls. Leading by five points with 12.1 seconds remaining, the Bulls scored six points in a six-second span to take the lead. And when Austin Reaves put Los Angeles ahead 117–116 with a layup, Bulls guard Josh Giddey nailed a half-court heave from 46 feet for the win.

Lakers coach JJ Redick couldn't believe his eyes.

"Devastation," Redick said when asked about his reaction to the game.

With the loss, the Lakers drop to 44–29 on the season, still good for fourth place in the Western Conference. But Los Angeles is slumping at the wrong time with four losses in their last five games.

Only 2.5 games separates the Lakers from the No. 7 spot—the first slot to enter the play-in tournament, a position the Lakers have grown to know all too well over the last few years.

Redick and the Lakers will be back in action Saturday night to take on the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum.

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Tom Dierberger
TOM DIERBERGER

Tom Dierberger is a staff writer and editor on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in November 2023 after stints at FOX Sports, Bally Sports and NBC Sports. Dierberger has a bachelor's in communication from St. John's University. In his spare time, he can be seen throwing out his arm while playing fetch with his dog, Walter B. Boy.

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