LA Lakers may get key pieces back for matchup against Chicago Bulls

LOS ANGELES – The injury-ridden Los Angeles Lakers will look to get back to their winning ways against the visiting Chicago Bulls in their National Basketball Association (NBA) clash on March 22 (March 23, Singapore time).

The Lakers (43-26) have lost five of their last eight games since March 8, when LeBron James suffered a groin injury that has kept him out since.

Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves have been dealing with nagging ankle injuries that held the duo out of the 118-89 home loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on March 20. Los Angeles have also been without starting forward Rui Hachimura for the last 12 games due to a knee issue.

Doncic and Reaves are listed as probable for the Bulls game. James’ return is imminent, as the 40-year-old has begun ramping up his on-the-court work in recent days. While his status remains in question, a return against Chicago has not been ruled out. The same is true for Hachimura.

“I think everybody is day-to-day, including LeBron and Rui,” Lakers coach J.J. Redick said.

“We knew post-All-Star break that this first three, four weeks was going to be tough. It’s not getting any easier. This has been a very difficult stretch just in terms of the schedule and our guys have competed and played through a lot of stuff. That’s just the reality of where we’re at today. We’ve got to continue to manage this stretch.”

Chicago (30-40) do not have the same championship aspirations as this current iteration of the Lakers, but the Bulls have been the better team across their last eight games. Coach Billy Donovan’s group have gone 6-2 in that stretch to fight firmly back into the Eastern Conference play-in picture.

The Bulls are coming off a 128-116 win over the Sacramento Kings on March