LeBron James made his return on Sunday after a foot injury forced him to miss 13 games with the Lakers. Despite his return Los Angeles’ three-game winning streak came to an end with a 118-108 defeat to the Chicago Bulls. James finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes
Less than an hour before tipoff, the Lakers announced that James would be available to play, after testing his foot in pregame warmups. However, James was not part of the Lakers starting lineup instead coming off the bench for just the second time in his NBA career (1,680 games counting the playoffs) and the first time since 2007.
James’ injury occurred on Feb. 26 vs. the Dallas Mavericks, where the Lakers trailed by as many as 27 points in the game. James played through the injury to help the Lakers complete the comeback, finishing with 26 points, eight rebounds and three assists — but had been sidelined ever since.
The Lakers have gone 8-5 without James, rising to No. 8. in the Western Conference standings after Friday’s win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. After the loss to the Bulls, however, L.A. is back under .500 at 37-38, dropping down to No. 9.
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