NBA: Lakers defeated despite James’ return, Golden State and Dallas fall

The Lakers star racked up 19 points (8 rebounds) for the second game of his career as a substitute in 20 league seasons.

But that was not enough against the Bulls carried by Zach LaVine (32 pts) and DeMar DeRozan (17 pts, 10 assists).

“I take my hat off to them,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “They showed a sense of urgency tonight. We came in a bit flat, we lost the ball early on. We weren’t aggressive enough, physical enough.”

In the post-match conference, James, 38 but still in dazzling form when he’s on the pitch, revealed he refused to have foot surgery so he could fight for a place in the play-offs.

The Lakers fall to 9th place in the Western Conference, just ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder, which won against Portland (112-118) and occupies the last qualifying place for the play-off accession play-offs.

For their part, the Bulls confirm their tenth place in the East, just behind Toronto, winner (114-104) of Washington, which falls to twelfth place and sees its chances of participating in the dams dwindling.

The qualified Cavs

By also losing to the Timberwolves (96-99), Stephen Curry’s Warriors (20 pts, 9 assists), 6th in the West and virtually the last automatically qualified for the play-offs, let Minnesota get dangerously close to the ranking. Rudy Gobert had 10 points and 18 rebounds for Wolves.

In Atlanta, the Hawks lost (119-123) to Memphis, led by the 27 units of Ja Morant who returned to the starting line, and see their eighth place in the Eastern Conference seriously threatened.

Earlier in the day, despite the 40 points and 12 rebounds of its star Luka Doncic, Dallas lost against Charlotte, one of the worst NBA teams (110-104).

The Mavs are still stumbling in 11th place in a very tight Western Conference, where only four wins separate 6th from 12th.

And they will have to do without Doncic on Monday in Indiana, the Slovenian leader having been penalized for his 16th technical foul of the season, synonymous with a one-game suspension.

At the top of the standings in the East, Cleveland dominated Houston (108-91) and scored their ticket to the play-offs, a first since 2018.

It’s the first time since 1998 that the Cavs have reached the playoffs without LeBron James.

Finally, in the absence of injured Jayson Tatum, Boston relied on Jaylen Brown (41 pts, 13 rebounds) to correct San Antonio (137-93), penultimate in the West.

The Celtics thus keep the pressure on Milwaukee in the race for first place in the East.