(Basketball news) The Chicago Bulls snapped the Los Angeles Lakers winning streak as they beat them 118-108. For the Bulls, Zach LaVine scored 32 points as DeMar DeRozan added 17 points while Patrick Beverley had 10 points and five assists in his first game against the Lakers since they traded him last month. For the Lakers, LeBron James scored 19 points off the bench in his return from a month long injury absence as Troy Brown Jr. and Malik Beasley scored 18 points apiece, but Anthony Davis managed just 15 points and nine rebounds.

For only the second time in his 20-year 1,958-game NBA career, James wasn’t a starter as he came in as a reserve midway through the first quarter. The Lakers were without D’Angelo Russell, who missed his second straight game with a right hip injury as the Lakers (37-38) failed to get above .500 for the first time since Jan. 9, 2022.

“I felt confident in the workouts that I had this week,” James said. “And the day after the workouts, when I woke up, stepped out down off the bed, I could possibly play today. And after my workout early before the game today, I knew I could play.”

“You could see him getting his rhythm, his timing, his finishes, all of that,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “He’s a savvy veteran, one of the greatest ever to do it, so it’s not going to take all that much.”

“There are going to be swings, and that was the encouraging part,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “I’m seeing a competitive response back competitively.”

“I was just playing basketball,” Beverley said. “Obviously it’s good to see some old teammates, old coaching staff.”

The Minnesota Timberwolves got a narrow win over the Golden Warriors as they beat them 99-96. For the Timberwolves, Karl-Anthony Towns hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 11 seconds to play after Kyle Anderson stole a pass by Draymond Green as he had 14 points, five rebounds and a pair of steals while Gobert grabbed 18 rebounds to go with 10 points, Anderson contributed 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. For the Warriors, Jordan Poole had a game-high 27 points as Steph Curry scored 20 points. The Warriors had their nine-game home winning streak snapped and missed a chance to boost their playoff positioning.

“Defensively I thought we were really, really good,” Finch said. “When you play these guys it puts a lot of onus on your smalls to keep chasing, keep fighting and keep contesting.”

“He took some hits. He got hit in the face three different times,” Kerr said.

“Turnovers here and there and they piled up,” Golden State guard Gary Payton II said after making his Warriors season debut. “Down the stretch we had it right there.”

Also read: NBA: Lakers moved to 8th in the standings while Grizzlies seal a playoff berth