LeBron James returns from 7-game injury absence, and nothing else goes right in Lakers' blowout loss

Los Angeles Lakers down the stretch toward the postseason.

And then almost nothing else went right for the Lakers during a 146-115 thrashing from the Chicago Bulls.

«We've got to play better basketball than we did tonight, and what we did on our last road trip,» James said before the Lakers headed out on a four-game trip beginning in Orlando on Monday.

James scored 17 points after missing the Lakers' previous seven games with a strained left groin, but the top scorer in NBA history looked rusty in certain moments — particularly late in the first quarter, when he threw a long sideline inbounds pass that curled out of bounds without ever getting close to one of his teammates.

But James' return was just one part of a comprehensively poor effort by the Lakers, who took their second straight loss and hit the latest trough in their peaks-and-valleys season since acquiring Luka Doncic.

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Not even the simultaneous return of starting forward Rui Hachimura, who had missed 12 games with a knee injury, could make the Lakers competitive against the inspired Bulls.

«I don't know if we assumed because we had everybody back that it was just going to be like it was three weeks ago, and that's just not how this works,» Lakers coach JJ Redick said. «The thing that we have talked about all season long, though, is grace, so the group inherently gets some grace for what these last three weeks has looked like. (But) that was the worst our defense has looked, frankly, all year, but certainly in the last three months.»

Indeed, the Lakers have been one of the NBA's best teams for long stretches with their new superstar duo — but they've also had enough terrible outings to suggest there's much more work to do. Their schedule also