LOS ANGELES — The Lakers were whole for the first time in weeks on Saturday with LeBron James and Rui Hachimura both returning from injury. And then their sloppy ball protection and porous defense dug themselves a hole they were unable to find their way out of in a 146-115 blowout loss to the Chicago Bulls.
While James’ presence, following a two-week absence because of a strained left groin was welcome, as was Hachimura’s after he missed nearly a month with tendinopathy in his left knee, the result was a reminder of the precarious position the team finds itself with 12 games remaining in the regular season.
Los Angeles (43-27) is No. 4 in the Western Conference and just 2½ games behind the No. 2 Houston Rockets. However, the Lakers are also just three games up on the No. 7 LA Clippers, who currently are the top seeded play-in tournament team in the West.
“We got 12 games to position ourselves in the postseason,” James said after posting 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 5 turnovers against the Bulls. “We pretty much can control our own destiny if we win ball games and not have to be in the play-in.”
Lakers coach JJ Redick has already publicly stated that goal for his team, striving to secure the No. 6 seed or better so it can bank a week of rest and preparation between the end of the regular season and start of the playoffs rather than face a must-win scenario in the play-in tournament as Los Angeles found itself three of the last four years.
“I think that’s a good way to look at it. … ground zero,” Redick said. “These next 12 games, you’ve got to re-find your way. It’s a perpetually flowing river that we’ve all of a sudden run into a beaver’s [dam] … and we got to get ready to get the water flowing again.”
Hardly anything flowed for Los Angeles against Chicago, particularly in the second half when it was outscored 81-53.
“I think our key is going to be the defense,” Hachimura said. “Our defense was awful today. We weren’t locked into our gameplans and everything. We didn’t execute. They were getting everything — 3s, transition, layups, pick-and-roll, whatever. So we just got to, I think, focus on defense.”
All five Bulls starters scored in double-digits, led by Coby White’s 36 points. Rookie Matas Buzelis scored a season-best 31 points. Josh Giddey neared a quadruple double with 15 points, 17 assists, 10 rebounds and 8 steals.
While the Lakers defense was picked apart, their offense didn’t fare much better. Luka Doncic scored 29 points in the first half, but finished with just 34 — and 7 turnovers. Los Angeles committed 21 turnovers as a team, leading to 27 points for the Bulls. “I can’t be losing the ball seven times,” Doncic said. “That’s way too many for me.”
Lingering too long on the Bulls loss won’t help much, however. Los Angeles has to shift focus in a hurry. The Lakers start a four-game road trip Monday against the Orlando Magic, followed by Indiana, Chicago and Memphis. Eight of the Lakers’ last 12 games are on the road; they still have three back-to-back sets remaining; and only four of their remaining games are against teams outside of the top eight in either conference.
Plus, just because James and Hachimura are back in the lineup, doesn’t mean they are fully back.
Hachimura (5 points on 2-for-6 shooting and 2 rebounds in 18 minutes against Chicago) will be on a 20-24 minutes restriction range moving forward. And his knee is still only “70-80%” in his estimation. “My knee is going to be like that for a while, I think,” he said. “I can’t really get back to 100% right away. I got to rest for a long time to get back to normal. But I don’t think we have that, so we just got to maintain and manage it.”
And James wasn’t ready to say he was fully recovered from his groin injury, either. “I just take it day by day,” he said. “I hope it’s behind [me], but I don’t want to go too far in the future.”
For a group that has taken on the identity of its first-year coach in Redick by embracing competition this season, how it responds to nightly challenges over the next three weeks will largely determine just how successful of season it will end up being for them.
“I think we’re in a great spot,” Doncic said. “Obviously, today wasn’t a good game for us, but I think we’re in a great spot. We’ve got to play hard every game to try not to get in the play-in and try to get the highest seed we can.”