by The Los Angeles Lakers already received their injured rotation players on Saturday after they lost with a very short -handed crew of the Milwaukee Bucks with 29 points. That meant that LeBron James and Rui Hachimura also returned to the line -up after she was out for a while because of a groin tribe and patellar tendinopathy, respectively.
The Lakers played the Bulls, a team that came in with a record of 30-40, so they probably found a victory almost a lock. But the bulls have been a secret team throughout the season and had won six of their last eight games, and they were not a team that could afford LA to take light.
After a close first quarter, Chicago took control in the second quarter and the Lakers could not find a remedy. They turned the ball regularly, partly because of sloppy passes, and it encouraged the young bulls. The Lakers had only dropped three points at the break, but then they were stamped in a rush.
De Bulls scored an embarrassing 81 points in the second half and continued to increase their lead as time passed. La’s 21 turnover turned into 27 Bulls points, and the Bulls defeated LA 30-12 in fast points and 74-42 in points in the paint. They also had 41 assists and shot a sizzling 46.3% from 3-point reach, and their bank players combined for 38 points.
It all resulted in a loss of 146-115 for the Lakers. This was their worst defensive performance of the season and perhaps their worst loss in general this year. They have now lost six of their last nine games, and with a record of 43-27 they fell to fourth place in the Western Conference.
Dorian Finney-Smith: D
Smith did not do much offensive in this game. He went 1-4 from the field and missed all three of his 3-point attempts, and he was defensively fairly ineffective while spending a large part of the game in dirty problems.
He ended with two points, two rebounds, one rebound and one handle, but he had an excellent block on Josh Giddey during an escape attempt.
Jaxson Hayes: B-Minus
The Lakers wanted to set up Hayes for simple buckets on the edge – to an error. This strategy resulted in a large number of their turnover, but he still managed to score 10 points on 5-of-6 field targets. He also had four rebounds, two assists and one stem in 25 minutes.
Austin Reaves: A
Somewhat quiet Reaves scored 25 points while he made nine of his 13 shot attempts and adds five assists. It is a sign of how much he has grown this season that he can score so many points without even noticing it.
Luka Doncic: B-Plus/A-Minus
Doncic was in the volcano mode in the first half of this game. He scored 17 points in the first quarter and already had 29 points during the break on a very hot shooting. He then cooled down a bit, but he still finished with 34 points on 10-of-18s overall shooting and 8-of-13 from the center, to go with eight rebounds and six assists.
However, he has contributed more to the lack of ball protection of the Lakers than anyone else. He committed seven turnover, with five of those who came in the first half, often in poorly advised passage attempts where he might have been able to make a shot himself. Teams seem to be successful with putting pressure on his ball treatment and let him lose the basketball of the dribble.
LeBron James: C
In his first game back from a Liesstam that he suffered two weeks ago, James only claimed himself in the game. He only shot 2-8 in the first half, and although he then went 5-of-8, it was not nearly enough.
His Stat -Line of 17 points, six rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes was anematic, and granted, he is probably not entirely in game form, but he should have put his foot in the game earlier to prevent it from sliding when things were still relatively competitive. He also turned the ball five times to contribute to the carelessness of the Lakers, but he helped them with three steals.
Gabe Vincent: B
Vincent hit Back-to-Back 3-Pointers to start the fourth quarter in an attempt to generate a comeback. They were the only two shots he hit all night and got him six points plus three rebounds in 19 minutes.
Rui Hachimura: D
In his first game back since he was injured on 27 February, Hachimura was a minute restriction from the bank. He only hit two of his six shot attempts and scored five points to go with two rebounds and one stem in 18 minutes.
Jarred Vanderbilt: D
Vanderbilt made very little impact in 11 minutes. He missed both shot attempts and ended with two rebounds and three sales.
Jordan Goodwin: C-Plus
Goodwin only did one of his three shot attempts and ended with four points, three rebounds, one assist and one stem in 15 minutes.
Dalton servant: B
The servant only came into play until it was out of reach, but when he was on the field, he did reasonably well. He made two of his four shot attempts and two of his three attempts from outside the arch to score six points, to join one rebound, one assist and one handle, in seven minutes.
Shake Milton: D
In seven minutes, Milton went 1-of-3 from the floor and ended with two points, one rebound and one assist.
Alex Len: D
Len did not try any shot and only contributed one rebound in seven minutes.
Markeff Morris: C
In seven minutes, Morris made one of his two field goal attempts and had one assist.
Bronny James: D-Minus
After his 17-point breakout performance on Thursday, the younger James missed all four of his shot attempts and scored two points on free throws, to go with one assist, versus Chicago.
