LeBron James and Lakers lose to Bulls, drop to 1-4 since winning tournament title

The Chicago Bulls stretched and cut through the Lakers defence, and a bench player in street clothes seemed to have the most impact.

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The Bulls' turnaround with Zach LaVine on the bench due to a foot injury is unmistakable. You can't ignore what LaVine could do for a team like.

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However, the easy pairing of a star player who represents LeBron James and Anthony Davis to a team that traditionally seeks big names is speculation.

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LaVine's four-year, $176 million contract and injury history have cooled his market, along with one of his least-efficient seasons.

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With him and the Lakers in the same building Wednesday, "what if" was a fair question, especially with the team in a post-Vegas funk.

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The Lakers got good offence from James (25 points), Austin Reaves (21) and Taurean Prince (16) and less from Davis (19 and 14 rebounds) and Cam Reddish (13 points) against the Bulls.

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After realising they had to win on offence, the Lakers only briefly threatened. DeMar DeRozan led eight players in double figures as the Bulls made six more threes on three fewer attempts.

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