Josh Giddey sinks half-court buzzer-beater to lift Bulls over Lakers in dramatic 119-117 win

Josh Giddey capped a wild game-ending sequence with a half-court shot at the buzzer to give the Chicago Bulls a 119-117 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.

The craziness began with the Bulls trailing 115-110. Patrick Williams hit a 3-pointer with 9.8 seconds left to narrow the deficit to two. A sloppy inbound pass from LeBron James was then stolen by Giddey. He got the ball to Coby White, whose 3 gave Chicago a one-point lead with 6.1 seconds left.

Following a timeout, Austin Reaves hit a driving layup to put the Lakers back on top by one with 3.3 seconds remaining. That merely set the stage for Giddey’s heroics.

After inbounding the ball, Giddey quickly got it back and swished a 3-pointer from just beyond the half-court line. He held his shooting hand aloft as the ball went through the net and the United Center crowd roared.

“As soon as it left my fingertips, it looked good,” Giddey said. “And that’s kind of why I held my follow-through the whole time. I had that feeling when it left. It looked straight. It felt good. It was a special night, obviously. A great comeback win. I’ll enjoy this one.”

Giddey finished with 25 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists for his fifth triple-double of the season. Chicago had trailed 91-75 entering the fourth quarter but staged a furious comeback thanks to 11 3-pointers.

Another look at the UNREAL final sequence that led to the thrilling Bulls victory 🤯

Williams 3. White 3. Reaves bucket…

Giddey #TissotBuzzerBeater! pic.twitter.com/hhOzJzRGoI

— NBA (@NBA) March 28, 2025

“The probability of us winning that game was probably very low,” White said. “But we defied the odds. It was a fun game to be a part of. That’s a game that I’m going to remember for the rest of my life.”

For the Lakers, the loss was a sharp comedown from the previous night, when James tipped in a rebound at the buzzer to secure a 120-119 win over the Indiana Pacers.

As the regular season enters the final stretch, Los Angeles (44-29) now finds itself in a precarious position after failing to capitalize on the Memphis Grizzlies’ (44-29) loss earlier in the night to move into sole possession of fourth in the Western Conference.

The Bulls (33-40) have won 9 of their last 11 games and swept the season series with the Lakers, including a 146-115 victory in Los Angeles on March 22.

“We just kind of kept hanging in there. From Patrick’s 3 to Josh’s steal to Coby’s 3, then Reaves makes a layup and then Josh throws in a half-court shot,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “Like, that all took place in 12 seconds. So, yeah, you’re not going to normally see that very often.”

(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)