Giddey's halfcourt shot gives Bulls a buzzer-beating win, a night after the Lakers had their own

CHICAGO (AP) — Josh Giddey could feel it as soon as the ball left his fingertips. In a flash, teammates were mobbing him.

Giddey's buzzer-beating halfcourt heave capped what might be the wildest finish in the NBA this season and gave the surging Chicago Bulls a 119-117 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.

“Special moment to do it with these guys, this team,” Giddey said.

The Lakers, meanwhile, went from winning at Indiana on a tip-in by LeBron James at the buzzer on Wednesday to losing in gut-wrenching fashion. They also took it on the chin again from Chicago after getting blown out in Los Angeles on Saturday.

“Devastation,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “It’s a hell of a way to lose a basketball game.”

The Lakers led by 13 midway through the fourth quarter and appeared to be in good shape up 115-110 after Austin Reaves made two free throws with 12.6 seconds remaining, only to lose for the eighth time in 12 games. They have a day to shake it off before closing out a four-game trip at Memphis.

“We put ourselves in position to win, gave up a lot of 3s in the fourth quarter, still put ourselves in position to win,” James said. “Horrible turnover by myself, miscommunication the play before that. AR tried to save us. Tip your hats."

The Bulls made 11 of 14 3-pointers in the fourth. They nailed three in the final 10 seconds, starting with one by Patrick Williams.

Giddey then stole a pass from James and fed Coby White for a 3 to put the Bulls on top with 6.1 seconds remaining.

Reaves drove for a layup to give the Lakers a 117-116 lead with 3.3 seconds left, Chicago had just enough time to pull out the win.

Giddey inbounded to Patrick Williams, got the ball back and pulled up near the Bulls logo. He held his follow-through right until the shot fell through the net, giving the Bulls their ninth win in 11 games and setting off one wild celebration.

“We’ve shown over the last month to six weeks that we can beat anybody,” Giddey said. “The way we play the game, I think it wears people down. We get up and down. We run. We put heat on them to get back. A lot of veteran teams don’t particularly want to get back and play in transition.”

The Bulls looked like a lifeless team a month ago. They traded Zach LaVine to Sacramento prior to the deadline and seemed to be packing it in after six straight losses left them with a 22-35 record. They're 11-5 since then, and they haven't just been picking on weak teams. They've beaten the Lakers twice and Denver in the past three games and also have a win over Indiana during this stretch.

Giddey and White have been at their best lately.

Giddey delivered his fifth triple-double on Thursday with 25 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists. The only Bulls player with more in a season was Michael Jordan with 15 in 1988-89.

White finished with 26 points after scoring 35 or more in a career-high three straight games, and the Bulls simply didn't quit. Coach Billy Donovan said that took hold in September, during the players' workouts at the team's facility prior to the start of training camp.

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Los Angeles Lakers' Austin Reaves (15) goes up for a shot against Chicago Bulls' Nikola Vucevic (9) during the second half of an NBA game Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Chicago Bulls' Josh Giddy (3) goes up for a shot against Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James (23) during the second half of an NBA game Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick looks on during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan looks on during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Chicago Bulls' Josh Giddy (3) celebrates with teammate Nikola Vucevic (9) after making the winning basket in an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Chicago Bulls' Coby White (0) celebrates after making a three-point basket during the final seconds of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Chicago Bulls' Josh Giddy (3) celebrates with teammates after making the winning basket in an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Now more than halfway to the moon, the Artemis II astronauts were toasted by Canada on Saturday as they prepared for their historic lunar fly-around to push deeper into space than even the Apollo astronauts.

The three Americans and one Canadian will reach their destination Monday, photographing the mysterious lunar far side as they zoom around. It's the first moonbound crew in more than 53 years, picking up where NASA’s Apollo program left off.

Artemis II was poised to set a distance record for humans, traveling more than 252,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) from Earth before hanging a U-turn behind the moon and heading home without stopping or entering lunar orbit. The record is currently held by Apollo 13.

The Canadian Space Agency celebrated the country’s role in the mission, speaking from Quebec with astronaut Jeremy Hansen as he headed toward his lunar rendezvous. Hansen is the first non-U.S. citizen to fly to the moon.

“Today he is making history for Canada," said Canadian Space Agency President Lisa Campbell. “As we watch him taking this bold step into the unknown, let his journey remind us that Canada’s future is written by those who dare to reach for more.”

In the live televised linkup, Hansen said he's already witnessed “extraordinary” views from NASA's Orion capsule.

Hansen, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch are the world's first lunar astronauts since Apollo 17's crew of three in 1972. Koch and Glover are the first female and first Black astronauts to the moon, respectively.

Their nearly 10-day mission — ending with a Pacific splashdown on April 10 — is the first step in NASA's bold plans for a sustainable moon base. The space agency is aiming for a moon landing by two astronauts near the lunar south pole in 2028.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

This image from video provided by NASA shows the Artemis II crew Commander Reid Wiseman, second from left, thanking the families of the crew while speaking with NASA Mission Control in a video conference while en route to the moon, Thursday, April 2, 2026, as Canadian astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, far left, looks on and mission specialist Christina Koch and pilot Victor Glover, far right, make hearts with their hands. (NASA via AP) CORRECTION: headed to the moon, not in moon's orbit

This image from video provided by NASA shows a view of earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft's four windows after completing the translunar injection burn, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP)