March 11, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) moves the ball against Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid (11) in the second half at the Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Image After recording a season-high in points and making a little NBA history in the process, the Los Angeles Clippers will be looking to carry a lot of momentum into their game against the Chicago Bulls in Inglewood, California on Friday.
With Wednesday’s 153-128 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Clippers moved above .500 and became the first team in league history to go one game over the mark in the same season after going 15 games below break-even.
The resurgence began with the addition of James Harden and Ivica Zubac to the roster and continued after the trade, where they were replaced by Bennedict Mathurin and Darius Garland. The Clippers have won six of their last seven under their new look.
“I’m proud of our coaching staff and all of our players, not just me,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “I try to create an atmosphere and create an environment where everyone is comfortable and everyone can have fun. It’s a little hard to have fun when you’re 6 to 21, but our friends were still in it.”
That was the Clippers’ record on Dec. 18, when they were up 27-11 in games that started when Kawhi Leonard was the primary focus of the offense. Leonard scored 45 points against Minnesota and has averaged 30.0 points in 34 games since Dec. 20 and has been the Clippers’ leading scorer in 16 of the last 18 games.
“It’s nice to be in the same uniform and not be on opposite sides of the ball,” Garland said of playing alongside Leonard. “I’m very excited to be able to run the flow with him, swing the ball at him as much as I can, and watch him go to work.”
The Bulls will make the 14-mile trip from downtown Los Angeles to Inglewood after losing 142-130 to the Lakers on Thursday. Josh Giddey missed a triple-double with 27 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds. Matas Bouzelis added 22 points and Tre Jones had 18. Chicago recorded 53.7%.
The Bulls are 3-3 after an 11-game losing streak and 1-2 on the road, which ends Friday.
Buzelis’ performance came after he scored a career-high 41 points in Tuesday’s win over the Golden State Warriors. He averaged 27.7 points in the first three games of this trip.
“The mindset before I go into a game is everything is earned, nothing is given, nothing is guaranteed,” Buzelis said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. “I think I can do it consistently, but I have to do it. I have to show it.”
The Bulls are also no strangers to trade deadline changes. They dealt Ayo Dosunmu, Coby White, Kevin Huerter and Nikola Vucevic, and added nine second-round picks and Jaden Ivey, Collin Sexton and Anfernee Simons.
Sexton (leg), Simmons (hand), Isaac Okoro (knee) and Patrick Williams (ankle) have all missed several games recently.
The Bulls trailed by 10 points in the first quarter against the Lakers, then took a 7-point lead in the second quarter and trailed 67-62 at halftime. It was within 7 with 8:45 left before the Lakers took charge. Chicago couldn’t stop Luka Doncic, who scored 51 points.
The Bulls won 138-110 at home over the Clippers on Jan. 20, when Buzelis scored 21 points.
Chicago is aiming to win a two-game series for the first time since the 2021-22 season. Los Angeles then won 5-2 against Chicago.
–Field level media
