Bulls at Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are struggling badly without LeBron James and look to perform better without their superstar when they host the struggling Chicago Bulls on Tuesday. The Lakers are just 3-7 since James strained his left groin during a Christmas Day victory over the Golden State Warriors.
James is slated to be re-examined later this week but Los Angeles may have suffered its worst loss without him when it fell to his former team -- the Cleveland Cavaliers -- by a 101-95 score on Sunday. "No disrespect to the Cavs, but they're still an NBA team and for us we can't take anything lightly, especially in this league," Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma told reporters after Cleveland broke its 12-game losing streak. "Because we're all professionals and you can lose on any given night if we don't bring the effort, and that's what happened." The Bulls also arrive in town with a long skid as they have dropped seven straight games and are 0-3 on a five-game road trip. Chicago lost 110-103 to the Utah Jazz on Saturday one night after being annihilated 146-109 by the Warriors.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, WGN (Chicago), Spectrum SportsNet (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE BULLS (10-33): Chicago is just 5-14 since Jim Boylen replaced Fred Hoiberg as coach and the club has dropped five games by 25 or more points during that stretch, including a franchise-worst 56-point whipping by the Boston Celtics on Dec. 8. Shooting guard Zach LaVine was just 7-of-21 shooting in the loss to Utah but tallied 21 points and is averaging 25.2 points over the past five games. Rookie forward Wendell Carter Jr. is averaging just 5.5 points on 5-of-14 shooting over the past two games after beginning the road trip with 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting against the Portland Trail Blazers.
ABOUT THE LAKERS (23-21): Los Angeles shot just 39.6 percent from the field -- including 7-of-34 from 3-point range -- and a paltry 16-of-27 from the free-throw line in a sour effort against Cleveland that left coach Luke Walton pondering lineup changes. "We might have to do something to the starting lineup right now," Walton told reporters. "Every game it feels like we're giving up 30-plus points in that first quarter, so we'll take a closer look at that." Kuzma had 29 points and nine rebounds and forward Brandon Ingram added 22 points but point guard Lonzo Ball (13 points) was the only other player to reach double figures.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Lakers won the past three meetings.
2. Los Angeles SG Josh Hart is averaging 5.7 points on 6-of-21 shooting over the past three games.
3. Chicago F Jabari Parker scored 11 points in 19 minutes against Utah after not seeing action in 12 of the previous 13 games.