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Dave McMenamin
LOS ANGELES — Lakers star LeBron James returned Saturday against the Chicago Bulls after a two-week absence because of a strained left groin.
James suffered the injury midway through the fourth quarter of L.A.’s 111-101 road loss to the Boston Celtics on March 8. The Lakers went 3-4 in their next seven games without him.
The 22-year veteran is averaging 25.0 points on 51.7% shooting (38.4% from 3), 8.5 assists and 8.2 rebounds in 58 games this season.
James’ return coincides with the Lakers’ roster being as healthy as it has been all season. Only Maxi Kleber (broken right foot), Cam Reddish and two-way player Trey Jemison III were on the inactive list Saturday.
“We just haven’t had a lot of time with our full team available,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said before the game. “We’ve had to manage this all season long no matter which iteration of this team it’s been. So, I’m excited for these last 13 games to build some continuity, build some chemistry, and hopefully the way we were playing prior to the Boston game, we can kind of get back to that.”
Lakers forward Rui Hachimura also returned Saturday after missing the past 12 games because of tendinopathy in his left knee. Redick said that Hachimura would be limited to 20 to 24 minutes for the next several games as he reintegrates into the lineup.
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