There was a ton of excitement surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night as LeBron James and Rui Hachimura returned to the lineup.
With the regular season winding down and hopes of securing the second seed, L.A. took on a Bulls team that had something to prove. As a rebuilding team, they tend to play spoiler to teams looking to climb the standings.
Turnovers and lackluster defense did the Lakers in and Chicago took full advantage. Those 21 turnovers can be attributed to trying to get everyone back into the flow of things and Hachimura acknowledged that they need to re-establish a rhythm as the regular season winds down and guys get back from injury.
“I think for me, yes,” he said after the Lakers 146-115 loss. “Myself of course, but I think as a team we gotta get back to the rhythm because we had a lot of injuries and different lineups. These past two weeks, we were kind of on and off. We had a great January and February and all that, but I think as a team we gotta get back into rhythm.
“Of course, Bron came back too and everybody kind of came back so we it was kind of one of those games where we were kind of looking at each other like who’s gonna do what? So we just gotta watch film and just stick together. Our chemistry has been great, so we gotta keep progressing. For myself too, I gotta get into shape of course. Game shape is a different thing. I think we have 12 games or whatever left, but we gotta make another push for the playoffs.”
Having letdowns like they did against the Bulls is unacceptable as L.A. looks to secure home-court advantage. With the standings becoming more congested, Hachimura admitted that the team does not want to drop into the Play-In Tournament.
“Yeah, for sure. It’s stressful, those moments where you just play one game or whatever to make the playoffs or not. That week is actually a big week for us because we can rest and we can actually reset as a team and kind of focus on the playoffs, whoever we play. So we talked about it, we know we’re not looking for the Play-In,” Hachimura admitted.
“We’re looking to make the playoffs. We have 10 games or whatever left and the standings are really close to each other from the second seed to like the sixth seed or whatever. So we have to lock in again as a team. We know we’ve had injuries, the schedule and all that, but this road trip is gonna be really important for us to get back in a rhythm… We just gotta stick together.”
Only 12 games remain in the regular season and there is a difficult balance between giving players time to re-acclimate themselves while trying to win as many games as possible to solidify seeding. Hopefully, Hachimura and James can find that middle ground.
Rui Hachimura still not feeling 100% healthy despite returning
A common misconception is that players returning from extensive absences usually are not fully healthy. That is the case for Rui Hachimura as he revealed that he is not 100% healthy despite returning on Saturday and will need to continue managing his knee injury.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
