LeBron James returned to the Los Angeles Lakers setup after a seven-game absence due to a left Liesstam.
He could not do anything to prevent a dominant Bulls version, because Chicago sustained 146 points in a win of 31 points. Coby White scored 36 and Rookie Matas Buzelis had 31. Josh Giddey flirted with a four-time-double collected 15 points, 10 rebounds, 17 assists and eight steals.
James played 31 minutes and scored 17 points to together with six rebounds, four assists and three steals. He shot 7-of-16, had five turnover and was a team-stretcher min-27.
“A bit rusty,” James said when he was asked how he felt about his performance. “A bit rusty, but I was happy to come back.”
Luka Doncic finished with 34 points, eight rebounds and six assists in 32 minutes, including eight three-Pointers. Ball handling, however, was a problem with seven sales.
Rui Hachimura also returned from an injury in this and played 18 minutes from the couch.
Fatigue A factor if the defense of Lakers falls apart?
The 146 points that the Lakers allowed were the most that they admitted the entire season. Making it all the more surprising is that the defense of Lakers has actually been pretty good since the takeover of Doncic. It would have been thought that the return of James and Hachimura would have helped.
“Give up 44 points in the paint. Our turnover killed us all night, giving them shots in the transition,” said head coach JJ Redick after the game. “I thought we did badly, they were 5-out-22 of three out of half and I think they were 14-out-19 in the second …
“I don’t know if we assumed because we had everyone back that it would be just like it was three weeks ago.”
An important factor that must be considered here is fatigue. The Lakers played their seventh game in just 10 days, a piece with three sets of back-to-backs.
It was a discouraging task to endure the previous games without James, and perhaps there was a bit of breathing out in relief that cost them.
