The Los Angeles Lakers continued their recent winning ways on Monday night defeating the Chicago Bulls for their fourth win in five games. Luka Doncic was remarkable, finishing with 46 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists, but he also got great contributions from LeBron James and Rui Hachimura, as well as efficient nights from Jaxson Hayes and Marcus Smart.
Hayes scored eight points and grabbed four boards on 3-of-4 shooting in 23 minutes of action. He also had one of the defining moments of the win, throwing down a fastbreak Eastbay dunk — going between the legs — in the fourth quarter. Hayes was one-on-zero with the basket, but it’s still rare to see players attempt this type of dunk in game context.
The Lakers center spoke about the decision to go for the dunk and what he saw when he made the choice, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I don’t even know. I just got the steal and I saw him out the corner of my eye for a second and then I saw Rui in front of him, so I knew he wasn’t running with me. So I was just like frick it, I’m gonna try it real quick.”
Surprisingly enough, this isn’t Hayes’ first Eastbay as a member of the Lakers. He threw down the same dunk on April 2, 2024. He was asked about his previous attempts and said that it’s nothing new to him to do it in a game:
“I mean, I’ve done it a few times in an NBA game before. Really, I just started doing it my sophomore year. You’re a kid, you’re in the garage, in the driveway on like the small hoop and you just try a bunch of dunks. I remember just trying it in like middle school and stuff and then I got to like my sophomore year, junior year of high school when I was actually dunking and I was like, let me try it real quick and got it. So now I’ve just been doing it.”
This time, though, Hayes definitely was worried about missing the dunk, and was thankful it went through.
“I thought I was about to get hung by the rim so bad and I thought I was about to get yanked out the game right away (laughs)… Luckily God was on my side and got that ball over the rim.”
Eastbay dunks in-game are a relatively rare sight. Hayes, though, seems committed to bringing it back every so often, creating an instant highlight in games that are typically nearing the end anyways.
LeBron James hopes Lakers are building momentum
James spoke after the Lakers defeated the Dallas Mavericks for their third win in four games, and said he saw it as potential momentum-building for the stretch run of the season. That feeling is likely even more amplified after defeating a Bulls team that had won four straight games, and doing so relatively comfortably.
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