LeBron James Returns from Foot Injury, but Lakers Lose to Bulls, 118-108

The good news? LeBron James, upgraded to doubtful on Saturday was quickly moved to questionable on Sunday ahead of the Lakers' game against Chicago, and declared himself good to go following pregame warmups. Rather than start, the Lakers brought James off the bench, where he ended up playing 30 minutes, scoring 19 points on 6-11 from the floor, with eight rebounds and three assists. Five turnovers indicated some rust and timing issues with teammates, but all-in-all, James looked pretty comfortable in his first game action in weeks. Nor did he report any discomfort after the game. He now gets two days to rest and continue treatment before the Lakers play the Bulls in Chicago. The bad news? Everything else that happened Sunday, in a 118-108 loss. The Lakers were pretty flat out of the gate, got put way behind after the Bulls used a hot shooting spree to build out a lead in the first half. And playing uphill the entire way, the Lakers just couldn't hit enough shots or play enough defense to get it done. They were bad at the line, bad beyond the arc, and turned the ball over without getting Chicago to return the favor. Not exactly a recipe for success. Anthony Davis was mired in foul trouble, Malik Beasley continued missing shots, Austin Reaves was forcing things... It was not good. And the Lakers paid for it. With only seven games remaining, it's starting to look a little more like the Lakers will make the top 10 (Dallas is dropping like a rock, and the Jazz are banged up and fading), but their hopes of rising to sixth are still alive... but don't have much space to breathe at this point. The hope is with James available down the stretch (and hopefully with D'Angelo Russell, too, who missed his second straight game on Sunday) the Lakers can string together wins. HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky SEGMENT 1: LeBron returns. How'd he look? Did Darvin Ham make it too complicated by bringing him off the bench? SEGMENT 2: More on James... and more stuff the Lakers did poorly on Sunday. SEGMENT 3: What about AD? What do the Lakers fix heading into Wednesday? Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Built Bar Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order. Ultimate Pro Basketball GM To download the game just visit probasketballgm.com or look it up on the app stores. Our listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo LOCKEDON (ALL CAPS) in the game store. PrizePicks First time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDON FanDuel Make Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices