The Lakers got their groove back. As well as their win from Chicago as they went into United Center and defeated the Bulls, 121-110.

Los Angeles had D’Angelo Russell back for this game to go along with LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the starting line-up for the first time in weeks.

The Lakers got off to a fantastic start as the starters dominated for most of the first quarter with a 27-10 start.

But once the Lakers starters went out, the Bulls took advantage with a 27-7 burst. What plagued the Lakers in their previous game against the Bulls reared its ugly head again as they turned the ball over quite a bit. Still, the starters returned and the Lakers closed out the half with a 10-0 burst to give themselves a 59-51 lead.

It was more of the same in the third quarter. The starters got the lead to 18 points. Then by the end of the third, the Bulls had cut the deficit to half. More on this dichotomy later.

Notably, LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell started the fourth quarter. And that duo scored the first 9 points of the fourth quarter (again, a contrast to the previous game). And then Anthony Davis, who didn’t score a single point in the fourth quarter on Sunday, took it home for the Lakers. The Bulls never got close as Davis scored 14 points in the final period.

And to top it all off, Austin Reaves did this:

Reaves got payback on Patrick Beverley doing the “too small” taunt on LeBron James last Sunday. That was hilarious.

It was a decent night for the Lakers although what really matters here is that they got the win and got themselves back to .500. They could the turn ball over less (15 turnovers overall but only one in the fourth, at least). The bench could contribute more (14 points on Wednesday; I mentioned before my hesitation on starting Austin Reaves).

But the starters overwhelmed the Bulls. Anthony Davis was very aggressive, ending with 38 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and two steals. LeBron James scored 25. Austin Reaves had an extremely efficient 19 points. And D’Angelo Russell put in 17 points in his return game.

Nikola Vucevic scored the first 13 Bulls points on his way to 29 points to go along with 12 boards and 6 assists. DeMar DeRozan scored 22 while Zach LaVine had 16 although they were noticeably quieter than on Sunday. Coby White came off the bench to score 17 points.

I’m not sure if the Lakers will make adjustments yet again on Friday against Minnesota although it has been the most optimal starting line-up they’ve had all season. Maybe the Lakers will hope that the bench finds its firepower in later games; they’re certainly capable of it.

But it’s a good start to the final road trip of the season for the Lakers.