Lakers News: Latest on D’Angelo Russell’s Injury, Ivica Zubac and More

The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Chicago Bulls 118-110 at home Sunday night, with Jimmy Butler carving up the Lakers defense for a game-high 40 points. The loss dropped the Lakers to 7-7 on the season and 1-2 on their four-game homestand, which concludes with a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

The Bulls are one of the better teams in the NBA at 9-5 on the season, so the Lakers’ ability to hang with this talented team was encouraging. However, they will need more from key players if they are to beat Russell Westbrook and the Thunder.

D’Angelo Russell’s return to the lineup after missing Friday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs with a knee injury was a positive sign, as it shows the injury likely isn’t serious. However, it still affected the way he played Sunday.“I tried to be real cautious,” he said, per the Los Angeles Times’ Tania Ganguli and Jesse Dougherty. “I think I shot all threes I think. But it’s all good.”

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Russell actually went 1-of-2 from inside the arc and a dreadful 2-of-9 from beyond it for eight points and seven assists. The performance was a far cry from the 32-point outburst he put up against the Brooklyn Nets last Tuesday to kick off the homestand and well below the 16.1 points per game he’s averaging on the season. 

The 20-year-old budding star doesn’t get to the free-throw line much (2.9 free-throw attempts per game this season) and failed to get to the charity stripe at all …

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