In that mischievously sabotaging style he possesses, Phil Jackson compared the Bulls to a latte the last time his Lakers faced them.
“Sometimes, there is more froth than substance,” Jackson said in November.
Tuesday night at the United Center, the Bulls whipped a sellout crowd of 22,761 into a frenzy with a 94-89 victory over Jackson and the Lakers.
The triumph marked the Bulls’ fifth straight, 12th in the last 13 games and just their third over a Western Conference opponent in 10 tries.
Chris Duhon, who missed Saturday night’s game in Atlanta with a bruised left thigh, shadowed Kobe Bryant to startling success, helping limit the league’s fourth-leading scorer to 19 points on 6-of-19 shooting.
Bryant, who fouled out for the first time since Dec. 1, 2005, with 52.4 seconds remaining, had averaged 37.6 points in his last five games before Tuesday.
Duhon had 11 points, six assists, six rebounds and two steals.
The Bulls also got huge efforts from Luol Deng with 23 points and 12 rebounds and Ben Gordon with 22 points in primarily a ball-handling role as Kirk Hinrich battled foul trouble.
Tied at 70-70 after three quarters, the Bulls opened the fourth with a 12-4 run as Michael Sweetney got dusted off to score eight of his 11 points.
The run ended with Thabo Sefolosha’s spectacular reverse layup.
Bryant, 4-of-15 to that point, scored on two straight possessions to make it 82-78. That’s when Bulls coach Scott Skiles switched Sefolosha onto Bryant after the rookie had experienced moderate success against him in L.A.
Bryant committed a turnover and an offensive foul.
The Lakers pulled to within 87-84, but Deng scored on a reverse layup with just less than two minutes to play, and Ben Wallace authoritatively blocked Kwame Brown’s shot on the ensuing possession.
