LOS ANGELES — As he prepared to make his return to Los Angeles, Patrick Beverley swore he didn’t need any extra juice to face his former team.
“It’ll be fun as hell,” Beverley said cheerfully after practice at the Galen Center a day before the game against the Lakers, citing “good relationships” forged with his teammates.
“I’ve always been wired like every game was the most important. I don’t want to put too much on one game. First game was just as important as the last, whatever game you have next is the most important. That’s always been my mindset.”
But on Sunday morning, Beverley took a slightly different tack, posting a picture of himself cradling a pack of Charmin toilet paper with a sly grin. The message felt clear — a shot at the Lakers for being too “soft” — even if it came by way of a branded sponsorship post.
For his part, Beverley swore it was just an advertising spot he was supposed to upload weeks earlier. But still “good timing,” he added with a slight smirk.
Before Beverley arrived, this wasn’t a Bulls team that talked trash.
DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine are known as lead-by-example veterans. Coach Billy Donovan described the team as “introverted” at times — quiet on the court, a little too quiet in huddles. But Beverley brings a buoyancy and a bite to the roster — a necessity for the Bulls to beat the Lakers 118-108 and to go 10-5 since the guard touched down in Chicago.
When Beverley arced a sky-hook over LeBron James — pantomiming a “too small” celebration as the Bulls gained a 10-point advantage 1:12 left in the game — he punctuated another game of backing up his words.
“The talking part never bothered me — as long as guys backed it up,” Donovan said.
Even without Beverley, the game was already surrounded in hype. James returned from a foot injury after a 13-game absence, coming off the bench for only the second time in his NBA career. And with both teams battling for a spot in their respective play-in tournaments, neither side needed the stakes raised any further.
Nikola Vučević was ejected in the second quarter after back-to-back technical fouls for arguing with the referees — in Serbian, Donovan noted, a language neither referee understands.
But the Bulls were ultimately the faster and sharper team, scoring 34 points off 18 turnovers. For the second game in a row, the Bulls refused to let their advantage slip away, a much-needed role reversal after consistently coughing up leads in the first two-thirds of the season.
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“We’re at the point of the season where everything matters — every quarter, every second, every minute of the game matters,” DeRozan said. “We can’t keep talking about it. We got to be about it when those situations happen.”
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Both teams have improved since the All-Star break. The Bulls are 10-5 as their defense climbs to the top five in the league. The Lakers managed a 10-6 record despite the extended absence of James.
Beverley said that mutual improvement dulled the edge of any resentment the trade might have fostered.
“Everything happens for a reason,” Beverley said. “They’ve gotten really better after the trade. The Bulls after the All-Star break, we’ve gotten better and that’s what it’s all about.”
In Los Angeles, Beverley was expected to be a guard who mostly saw the court to take long-range shots and shut down opponents on defense. But Donovan has placed the ball firmly in Beverley’s hands as the primary point guard, allowing him to create for his teammates.
That change has made all the difference — for both Beverley and the Bulls.
“If I’m a spoon, Billy’s using me as a spoon,” Beverley said. “The Lakers, I was a spoon but they used me as a fork. It’s different, but I’m fortunate that the Bulls called during the trade. Billy and my players and this coaching staff, I don’t want to let them down.”
