LOS ANGELES — Two NBA players returned to their hometown of Los Angeles and helped their team win at Staples Center.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, both of them play for the Chicago Bulls. 

DeMar DeRozan scored 38 points and Lonzo Ball added 27 as the Bulls beat the Lakers on Monday, 121-103.

DeRozan seemingly couldn’t miss, sinking 15 of 23 shots on a night where the Bulls rarely misfired. Ball, a former Lakers draft pick, had a complete stat line for Chicago, adding eight assists and seven rebounds.

DeRozan went to Compton High and then USC before turning pro in 2009. Ball attended Chino Hills High and then UCLA before the Lakers drafted him second overall in 2017. He joined Chicago as a free agent in August.

The Lakers struggled in almost every category, fell to 8-7 and also had to contend with a bizarre ejection.

Anthony Davis was thrown out of the game after his shoe came off while he tried to corral an errant pass with 2:20 left in the third quarter. Davis wasn’t thrilled that Chicago moved down court without the referee stopping the game.

Davis’ colorful language presumably wasn’t appreciated. His night was over. The Lakers trailed by 20.

“I think typically the ref will collect the ball and let the guy get his shoe on. Common sense,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “[Davis] said ‘That’s BS.’ Quick tech. Ejection. I don’t know what to say about that.”

Davis did not speak to reporters after the game.

The Bulls struck early with a torrid first half in which they made 10 three-pointers and took a 57-48 halftime edge.

Davis, on the other hand, had a quiet start for the Lakers with seven first-half points amid a slew of double-teams. He was more effective in the third quarter and scored 20 points before his ejection.

DeRozan and Ball weren’t the only ones with local connections. Russell Westbrook, who attended UCLA and Lawndale Leuzinger High, didn’t have a bad game necessarily — 25 points, eight assists and six rebounds. He just didn’t win.

Lakers forward LeBron James was sidelined again because of a strained abdomen and missed his ninth game this season. Three other Lakers also sat out because of injuries — Kendrick Nunn, Trevor Ariza and Austin Reaves.

The Bulls weren’t at full strength either — double-double threat Nikola Vucevic did not play because he tested positive for COVID-19. It didn’t matter.

The game wasn’t without its feel-good moments for Lakers fans.

Former Lakers guard Alex Caruso was honored with a lengthy video during the game‘s first timeout. The tribute documented Caruso’s highlights from the time he joined the Lakers’ G-League team as a little-known player in 2017 through winning a championship with the Lakers last year as a key reserve.

Caruso, who signed a free-agent contract with Chicago a few months ago, acknowledged with several waves the warm applause from an appreciative Staples Center crowd after the video ended. 

Of course, the Lakers joked ahead of time that they wanted to defeat their former teammate.

“We wish him nothing but the best…except tonight,” Dwight Howard told Spectrum SportsNet.

Good news for the Lakers: Caruso was scoreless in 34 minutes. Bad news for the Lakers: Caruso’s team didn’t lose.

The Lakers begin a five-game trip Wednesday that takes them through Milwaukee and Boston, among other Eastern Conference cities.