Just a reminder that if you aim at the King, you best not miss.
A lesson that LeBron James once again had to remind the Bulls franchise of.
After Patrick Beverley went viral by gesturing to James that he was “too small’’ late in the Sunday win over the Lakers in Los Angeles, it was Beverley and his teammates that came up very tiny in the rematch, with James and the Lakers winning 121-110 Wednesday at the United Center.
Playing just his second game since returning from a foot injury that cost him more than a month, James scored 25 points, while Anthony Davis led all scorers with 38.
As for the Bulls (36-40), the timing of a second consecutive loss couldn’t have been worse, as they remained stuck in the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference, still holding onto the final play-in spot, but running out of time to move up and get a home game with just six regular-season games left.
“We just couldn’t get anything going from the perimeter,’’ Bulls coach Billy Donovan said of his team shooting 9-of-33 (27.3%) from three-point range. “And then I thought when we did have the ball, some of our turnovers let out to some easy stuff for them.’’
That was very clear right from the tip off.
The Bulls couldn’t have asked for a worst start to the rematch but thank goodness for Nikola Vucevic.
All the big man did was score the first 13 points of the game for his team, while the Lakers jumped out to a 27-13 lead.
Coby White’s layup with 3:12 left in that opening stanza was the first non-Vooch bucket for the home team.
By the time the curtain closed on that first quarter, the Bulls were down 31-20, as Vucevic had 15 of those 20 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Meanwhile, his teammates combined to go 2-for-15 from the field in that time.
Then it was as if the two teams switched mindsets.
The Lakers were the team bogged down in possessions throughout most of the second, while the Bulls were causing turnovers and getting out in transition.
Within the first four minutes of that quarter, the Bulls not only erased the deficit, but took the lead on an Ayo Dosunmu layup.
Those good feelings were short-lived, however, as the Bulls were outscored the final 2:06 of the first half 10-0, allowing the Lakers to waltz into the halftime locker room up 59-51.
A sign of things to come in the second half.
Anytime the Bulls felt like they were getting on a run in the third and fourth quarters, it would be quickly stopped and sent the other way, especially whenever the Lakers starters were on the floor.
James finished a plus-23 in plus/minus, while D’Angelo Russell was a plus-35. As for some of the Bulls starters, Beverley was a minus-32, while Zach LaVine was a minus-24.
“In that third quarter, LeBron made some tough shots, and then there was our inability to score with them hurt us,’’ Donovan said.
It didn’t help that Alex Caruso and his on-going mid-foot sprain didn’t look right in Donovan’s eyes, so was very limited in how much he was used in the final two quarters.
As for the “too small’’ gesture? Better believe one was again flashed, as Austin Reaves hit a short floater over Beverley with 2:51 left in the game, and of course put his hand to the ground, letting Beverley know it was his turn now.
“Yeah, he did it the last time we played Bron,’’ Reaves said. “It wasn’t something I thought about doing all game, but I felt like it was the right time, right situation. Me and Pat have a good relationship, I respect him. It’s just me competing.’’