‘Never done that before’: Giddey stuns Lakers with miracle half-court buzzer beater in epic scenes

Josh Giddey, are you kidding?

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The Chicago Bulls guard has been on a tear since the All-Star break, producing highlight-reel plays on a nightly basis and turning back into the walking triple double he was during his early Oklahoma City days.

But this version of Josh Giddey — this fearless, confident one that launched a prayer to sink the Los Angeles Lakers in a thrilling 119-117 win on Friday afternoon?

This is exactly what the Bulls hoped they would get from the Australian and more when they traded for him this summer.

Giddey capped off another triple-double performance, where he put up 25 points to go with 14 rebounds and 11 assists, by hitting a half-court buzzer beater to stun the Lakers.

“Let it fly with confidence,” Giddey told Bulls broadcaster K.C Johnson after the game.

“I missed two before that but let that third one go with confidence and nothing but net. What a way to come back.

“I’ve never made a game-winner before. I’ve made a couple of layups to put us up with a couple of seconds left, but a walk-off like that from halfcourt I’ve never done that before. I don’t know if I’ll ever do it again but I’ll take this one tonight.”

And will he be watching a replay of that game-winning shot back any time soon?

“I’ll be watching that all night,” Giddey laughed.

The 22-year-old was mobbed by teammates after the shot, capping off an incredible sequence late in the fourth from Giddey as the Bulls, who trailed by as many as 18 points in the quarter, stormed home.

The game looked lost for the Bulls when Giddey left a floater short with 13.1 seconds left on the clock, and Chicago trailing 113-110.

The Bulls immediately fouled and Austin Reaves made both free throws, making it a two-possession game and leaving Chicago with little room for error.

A Patrick Williams triple put the Bulls back within striking distance, but with 7.1 seconds left on the clock there still wasn’t much time left.

Giddey came up with his first clutch play of the final minute as he read the LeBron James inbounds pass, immediately kicking it out to Coby White who made the go-ahead triple.

Still, there was time — six seconds to be exact — for the Lakers to steal the win, trailing 116-115 at that point, and Reaves featured once again as he made the driving layup.

With no timeouts, the Bulls needed a miracle and found it in Giddey as the Australian heaved it from halfcourt and buried the game-winner in stunning scenes.

It secured the unlikeliest of wins for Chicago and was the grand finale in what was another all-round masterclass from Giddey, whose asking price continues to rise ahead of the off-season.

Giddey got to work right away in Friday’s game, fighting for a rebound and showing no hesitation as he drove towards the rim and got the floater to drop early.

He then confidently drained a 3-pointer, and later showed why he earned the nickname of the ‘SLOB Wizard’ during his time in Oklahoma City, whipping a perfect sideline out of bounds pass to a cutting Kevin Huerter for the finish.

The Bulls led 16-7 at that point and while not all of Giddey’s shots were falling, he was even hustling for offensive rebounds to make up for it when they didn’t.

Giddey also later showed off his improvement on the defensive end as he stood his ground, forcing a turnover from Dorian Finney-Smith as the Lakers forward drove towards the rim.

The Bulls led 24-15 when Giddey checked out for his first breather, and maintained a 32-22 advantage entering the second.

Giddey opened the second quarter by threading the needle to find Zach Collins with another pinpoint pass and continued to be aggressive as he pushed the pace and went coast-to-coast for the finish.

The consistent pressure on the rim has added another dimension to Giddey’s game and it has also opened up scoring opportunities for his teammates, as was the case when he dished it off to Nikola Vucevic for the finish soon after.

Giddey capped off the second quarter with another confident triple, although a late Lakers run gave them a 59-58 halftime lead.

Giddey was already on triple-double watch by then (12 points, eight rebounds, six assists) and continued to go to work in the third quarter, making another 3-pointer.

Although the Lakers started to kick away late in the period and took a 91-75 buffer into the fourth.

Giddey was heavily involved early in the final quarter, although it was largely the Coby White show until the Australian came up clutch down the stretch and made up for that missed floater.

Ball security was the only real issue for Giddey on Friday, with the 22-year-old committing six turnovers.