When Luka Decides, the Bulls Can Only React

The Chicago Bulls didn’t lose to the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night because Luka Dončić scored 46 points.

They lost because Dončić decided which possessions were allowed to matter.

That difference is everything.

The Bulls played with effort, shot the ball well, and stayed connected long enough to make a 129–118 loss look respectable. What they never did was take ownership of the game itself. 

Against a player like Dončić, execution isn’t enough. Someone has to claim the moment outright. The Bulls don’t have anyone who can do that.

They spent the first half chasing themselves. Ten second-quarter turnovers — matching their made field goals — handed possessions to a Lakers team that didn’t need help imposing its will. 

The Bulls fell behind by as many as 20 points, yet even then the game never felt unstable — just tilted.

Still, they did what they always do. They chipped away.

Midway through the third quarter, the work paid off. Five consecutive made threes. A pair of free throws from Nikola Vučević. At 81–80, the Bulls had done everything required to earn momentum.

The problem was that momentum didn’t belong to them.

They missed their next 11 three-point attempts across the end of the third quarter and the first five minutes of the fourth. The shots weren’t reckless. The offense didn’t break. What vanished was the margin — and with it, the idea that the game would naturally tilt if they stayed patient long enough.

The Lakers entered the fourth quarter up 104–89 and never allowed the deficit to dip below seven. Not because the Bulls stopped generating offense, but because the Lakers knew exactly who was responsible for ending every push.

That’s where Dončić separates games. 

The Lakers were only plus-six in the 39 minutes he played. That stat doesn’t diminish his impact. It clarifies it. He didn’t dominate every possession. He decided which ones ended the conversation. He bent the defense, waited for the second helper, and shrugged off every scheme thrown his way.

“We tried mixing up coverages,” Coby White said. “We tried doubling. We tried blitzing pick and rolls. We did a lot of different things. It just seemed like he was one step ahead the entire night.”

That step was the difference between competing and controlling.

“We did a lot of good things tonight,” White added. “We shot the ball really well. It just so happened they got a guy named ‘Luka.’”

Billy Donovan’s postgame comments landed similarly.

“When you try to take Dončić or LeBron [James] away, what ends up happening is the ball’s gonna find [their teammates]…with the way both those guys pass, it’s kind of like pick your poison.”

But the poison only exists because the Lakers choose who handles it.

The Bulls finished with 15 turnovers. They shot well enough to win most nights. Six players reached double figures, led by White’s 23 points. Even a quiet second half from James — who scored 20 of his 24 points before halftime — didn’t flip the game, because Rui Hachimura punished every ounce of extra attention with ruthless efficiency.

Nothing about the Bulls’ effort disqualified them from competing.

What disqualified them from control is structural.

This game never entered clutch territory, and that was the most revealing part. 

Chicago didn’t fail to close. They never created a moment that needed closing.

The Bulls are built to survive possessions, not to claim them. Their offense doesn’t compress when the game tightens. It extends. Responsibility is shared. Precision is demanded from everyone, every time. 

Against most teams, that’s enough to stay involved. Against a team with a hierarchy, it isn’t.

Dončić didn’t beat the Bulls with volume or chaos. He beat them by deciding which possessions mattered — and ending them.

The Bulls can endure that kind of pressure. They always do. What they still can’t do is reverse it.

Until they can, nights like this won’t feel like failures. They’ll feel like confirmations.