CHICAGO _ Bulls guard Zach LaVine bounced back from a slow start in the first half, scoring 14 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter to help lead his team to a 110-109 victory over the Spurs on Monday night at the United Center.
LaVine scored or assisted on 16 of the Bulls' final 21 points, hitting a pair of free throws with 2.1 seconds left to seal the win. Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan finished with 36 points but missed a free throw with 0.2 seconds remaining that likely would have sent the game to overtime.
The game capped a surreal night at the United Center, with both teams still reeling from the death of Kobe Bryant, who was killed Sunday along with eight others in a helicopter crash outside Los Angeles.
Before the game, stories about Bryant were shared and both teams paid tribute to the NBA superstar as teams around the league have done the last two days.
The game began with Bulls guard Tomas Satoransky dribbling out an eight-second backcourt violation to start the game as cheers of "Kobe! Kobe!" rang through the arena. When DeRozan
waited out a 24-second shot clock violation, the cheers grew louder.
Then the Bulls and Spurs still had a game to play. It was a chance to perhaps begin the healing process for so many players who felt Bryant's influence.
"I think it's something that he would have wanted, for people to get back into the game and play," LaVine said before the game. "I feel like that's how he would approach it. I'm going to go out there and play the way I do: play my heart out. Obviously everybody is going to have a heavy heart, but we still have a job to do. It's terrible you have to play under those circumstances, but I feel like it's something he would want as well."
