LeBron James Stats Tonight: How did Lakers superstar fare in comeback game against Bulls? (Mar. 22)

After missing the past seven games, LeBron James was back on the LA Lakers lineup on Saturday night. James was cleared to play after his recovery from a strained groin, which occurred in March versus the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden.

"King James" was expected to boost a Lakers team that went 3-4 in his absence. He's still among the best players in the league at the age of 40, which meant the two-week absence was additional rest and time to recover from a long season.

The four-time NBA champion was featured in JJ Redick's starting five alongside Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Dorian Finney-Smith and Jaxson Hayes. But how did James perform against the Bulls?

The Lakers superstar was a little bit rusty, finishing with 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. He shot 7-for-16 from the field, including 1-for-2 from beyond the arc, and 2-for-5 from the charity stripe. He also committed five turnovers as the Purple and Gold lost 146-115.

Despite looking alright in his return, the LA Lakers were unable to sustain their start to the game. The Lakers were only down by three points entering the third quarter, but the Chicago Bulls completely took over and never looked back.

LeBron James didn't have a great night based on his standards, while Luka Doncic finished with 34 points, eight rebounds and six assists. However, James and Doncic combined for 12 turnovers, which didn't help their comeback efforts in the third period.

The Lakers had no answers to the three best players for the Bulls on Saturday night. Josh Giddey nearly had the fifth quadruple-double in NBA history. He had 15 points, 10 rebounds, 17 assists and eight steals. Coby White had a game-high 36 points and Matas Buzelis scored 31 points, which was his second-best scoring night in his young career.

Here are LeBron James' stats for the game:

Players	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	+/-
LeBron James	17	6	4	3	0	5	1	31	7-16	1-2	2-5	-27

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How did LeBron James fare against the Chicago Bulls?

LeBron James missed seven games with a groin injury and was cleared to return on Saturday. James didn't have his rhythm to start the game, with just two points in the first quarter and three points in the second period.

The LA Lakers superstar had a better second half, scoring 12 of his 17 points. However, the team just didn't have it in the final 24 minutes as they committed a ton of turnovers and failed to get stops when they needed them.

James had a great dunk in the third quarter, but it was his only highlight of the night. He likely needs more time to get back into his playing shape after two weeks out of action.