7pm, NBC Sports Chicago We’re really into that weird end-of-regular-season time where the games don’t matter and it’s tough to get any useful evidence from them. Except perhaps negative evidence like Kris Dunn still being bad? I’d argue -and should in a more well thought out fashion - that this occurs earlier like after the trade deadline. And this Boylen surge is fools gold. Just don’t retain Boylen next year and tell us it’s because of this great Otto Porterprovement, please please please. Back to tonight in particular: despite (or maybe because of?) Boylen’s dummy motivational tactics, the Bulls did not treat their weekend home-and-home against the Pistons like a playoff series, as they lost both games pretty handily and sat Zach LaVine out the second game. LaVine is also out tonight, officially with knee soreness (the non-ACL knee) and it appears that he undoubtedly has been nicked up this wouldn’t be an issue if the Bulls were actually in a competitive part of their season anymore. And speaking of, the Lakers have quickly pivoted away from playoff contention towards the bottom. This is an interesting byproduct of the flattened lottery odds: it’s kind of working where the truly-dreadful aren’t sabotaging themselves too much (the Suns are 5-5 in their last ten and have wins over the Bucks and Warriors, maybe their coach deserves some praise from ownership! ), but now it’s more appealing to get from just missing the playoffs to one of the higher slots. And the Lakers are now on a 5 game losing streak, 11th in the tankathon but merely 3 games away from 6th. That would improve their Zion chances from merely 2% to 9%, but their top-4 odds jump from 9.4% to 37.2%. They’ve shut down Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram for the season. Kyle Kuzma and Tyson Chandler are questionable for this game. LeBron James will play but may on a minutes restriction. I dunno, it’s tough to really be concerned about our ‘spirit’ in these nihilistic final weeks.<doc-sep>The Los Angeles Lakers will play the first game of a five-game road trip on Tuesday in Chicago with the hope of putting an end to their five-game losing streak with a win against the Bulls. At full strength, the Lakers are probably a better team than the Bulls on paper, but with Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram sidelined for the foreseeable future, it’s a toss up. Fortunately for the Lakers, Chicago won’t be at full strength either. According to Malika Andrews of ESPN, Zach LaVine has been ruled out of Tuesday’s game with a right patellar tendon strain. If LaVine was healthy, the Bulls would likely be favored to win. The former UCLA guard has been on an absolute tear throughout the league over the past several weeks, averaging 26.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in his last 15 games. Since the All-Star break, he’s averaging more point per game than Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kemba Walker and Klay Thompson. He’s been fantastic for Chicago offensively and he’s not even their best prospect. That title, depending on who you ask, belongs to Lauri Markkanen, an athletic 7-footer with a sweet shooting stroke. Over his last 15 games, the 21-year-old big man is averaging 22.7 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. He’s only 21 years old. With veterans Otto Porter and Robin Lopez rounding out Chicago’s front court, they might have enough talent to extend the Lakers’ losing streak to six games, especially if Kyle Kuzma is still dealing with ankle pain. For #TeamTank, that’s good news. The Lakers fell out of top-10 lottery position after the Charlotte Hornets dropped back-to-back games over the weekend, but a loss to the Bulls would get them back there. While seeing Andre Ingram lead the Lakers to a win in his return would be a great story, a top-10 pick on draft night would be a lot cooler. Sorry, Andre. Tip-off is at 5 p.m. PST on Spectrum SportsNet. For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Christian on Twitter at @RadRivas.<doc-sep>Who: Los Angeles Lakers (30-36) at Chicago Bulls (19-49) When: Tuesday, March 12, 5:00 p.m. PST, United Center Where: Spectrum SportsNet The final extended road trip for the Los Angeles Lakers kicks off on Tuesday in Chicago. The Lakers will make just one other road trip of more than one-game after their current five-game road trip ends. A team that is a bit of a mess with injuries, the Lakers likely won’t have a better shot at a win the rest of the road trip. Tank rolls on The Lakers have now lost six straight games and are in an absolute free fall. As quickly as the Lakers tumbled out of the playoff race, they found themselves in the thick of the tanking race. Heading into Tuesday’s contests, the Lakers were in 11th in the lottery seedings by percentage points. Only 2.5 games separate eighth and 12th with the Lakers squarely in the middle of it. Losses are a premium now to maximize draft position. One to the Bulls, one of the few remaining teams the Lakers will be favored against, would be big for the tank. Andre Ingram There’s a lot that went into the Lakers signing Ingram. Whether the Lakers were wise about how long they waited to fill their empty roster space opened up at the trade deadline and whether Ingram was the right guy to sign are separate matters. On the court, Ingram provides the Lakers with much-needed shooting. He has been an elite three-point shooter in the G-Leauge and that should translate onto the NBA court. Where his minutes come will be an interesting matter. In the Lakers’ last game against Boston, Josh Hart, who is still suffering from a knee injury, played 28 minutes while Rajon Rondo played 31. Both could see minute reductions with Ingram taking minutes from them.<doc-sep>It took the worst quarter of the Lakers’ season to snap them out of their longest losing streak. A disastrous opening frame put L.A. in a 20-point hole, but the purple and gold found their mojo, completing a 36-point turnaround for a 123-107 victory in Chicago. “In this day and age of social media, everybody’s so tight and tense about playing basketball,” Kyle Kuzma said. “In general as basketball players, we just need to try to have fun. Play the game like we did when we were kids, high school, college.” Kuzma certainly played his part, pitching in 21 points, mostly by getting into the paint off the dribble and in transition. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope also had 24 points — more than his last seven games combined — and four 3-pointers, but the night belonged to LeBron James. Like his teammates, James had a quiet first quarter, tallying only two points. However, he had plenty left in his reserves, finishing with 36 points and 10 rebounds in only 33 minutes. LeBron hit 15 shots and missed only eight, while putting on a one-man firework show in the second half. He threw down a couple of ridiculous reverse slams — one off a full-court bounce pass from Kuzma and the other off the glass from Josh Hart. After scoring a season-low 16 points in the first quarter, the Lakers (31-36) suddenly couldn’t miss, racking up 82 in the second and third combined. The Lakers outscored Chicago (19-50) by 32 points in those middle frames. LeBron, KCP and Kuzma (who missed the previous two games with an ankle injury) were key, while Rajon Rondo (14 points, 10 assists) and JaVale McGee (10 points, 11 rebounds) added double-doubles, helping to snap L.A.’s five-game losing streak. “It’s been a while, so I’m happy for the guys,” coach Luke Walton said. “I know they feel good. I’m happy with the way they chose to re-engage and fight. … That’s how you want to start out a long road trip.” Notes Andre Ingram, signed to a 10-day contract, played two minutes in his return to the Lakers. … L.A. shot 54.7 percent from the field. … The Lakers had a 28-10 advantage in fast-break points. … Robin Lopez (20 points) and Kris Dunn (18 points, nine assists) led Chicago.<doc-sep>
The Los Angeles Lakers ended a five-game losing streak with their 123-107 win against the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday at the United Center behind a dominant performance from LeBron James. James made it his mission to make sure the Lakers didn’t drop yet another game on Tuesday, scoring a game-high 36 points on 15-23 shooting from the field and 10 rebounds. I guess because there are only 16 games left in the Lakers’ season, his body naturally went into playoff mode. At least that gives fans something to look forward to in the postseason next year. The Lakers also got a pair of nice contributions from Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Kuzma looked comfortable in his first game back from injury, scoring 21 points and posting a box plus-minus of +19, while Caldwell-Pope looked arguably the best he’s looked all season, pouring in 24 points off of the bench and posting a box plus-minus of +18. It would have been nice to see that kind of production from him earlier this season, but better late than never, as they say. Rounding out the box score for the Lakers was Rajon Rondo, who finished with a 10-assist double-double and JaVale McGee, who looked as sharp as he’s looked defensively this season. It was an all-around good team effort in a meaningless March game. Andre Ingram could not match the fireworks of his NBA debut from last season, finishing with 0 points and missing his only shot in two minutes of playing time. With a win against Chicago, the Lakers move to within seven games of the eighth seed in the Western Conference. They also remain outside of the top-10 in the NBA Draft lottery. Even on a night where they win, the Lakers lose. The Lakers will be back at it on Thursday to take on the Raptors in Toronto. We’ll see you then. For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Christian on Twitter at @RadRivas.