Bulls make the most of LaVine’s first game back from injury
The last time Zach LaVine took the court with the Bulls, they looked atrocious.
That was the night in Boston when the Bulls trailed by 35 points and coach Billy Donovan complained about the Celtics fouling Andre Drummond intentionally to help their In-Season Tournament tiebreaker odds.
Fast forward to Friday at United Center, when LaVine and the Bulls tried to make the slumps of November a distant memory. With both LaVine and center Nikola Vucevic back in the lineup after injuries, the Bulls coasted past Charlotte 104-91.
LaVine scored 15 points in 30 minutes, hitting 6 of 11 shots from the field, and admitted his conditioning has room to improve.
“I'm going to sleep so well tonight, y'all don't understand,” LaVine joked in the locker room. “I had a couple rebounds where I could have pushed the ball on the break, I was looking for DeMar (DeRozan) or Coby (White) like, 'I'm just going to the corner real fast and just catch my breath.' I'll get my wind over the next couple of games.”
Vucevic had 11 points in 25 minutes. He hit just 5 of 12 shots but had a rare angry dunk late in the game, going over the top of Charlotte center Nick Richards for a wind-up, left-hander.
But this night was mostly about seeing if the Bulls could play well with LaVine. They had a 5-14 record after that Boston game, then went 10-7 while the two-time all-star sat out with a foot injury.
LaVine was asked about watching the Bulls go on a win streak without him.
“It was just good to see,” LaVine said. “It was great to see guys start getting in a rhythm, obviously start making shots and get confident in the offense. That's what we were working on. It didn't look that way in the beginning, but you stick with something long enough, you start to see the fruits of your labor.”
There were multiple reports, starting in mid-November, suggesting LaVine's agent was looking for a path out of Chicago, but the trade market for his maximum contract appears to be limited at best right now. While LaVine sat out, his Bulls teammates remained complimentary, leaving the door open for a happy return.
“With Zach's ability to shoot, to drive, to get out in transition, it opens up so much for us, gives us a totally different outlook offensively,” Vucevic said.
Donovan also stayed positive when discussing LaVine. He said it's all about LaVine making quick decisions and taking what the defense gives him, the same thing everyone on the team is trying to do.
“It's not like it's that complicated for him,” Donovan said before the game.
LaVine had a quiet start Friday, but the instincts started to kick in during the final minute of the first half. He had a double-pump fast-break slam off a long pass from White, then buried a 3-pointer just before halftime. Donovan said he thought LaVine passed up some opportunities to shoot the ball.
“I think it just (stinks) that I went down when everything started clicking,” LaVine said. “It's easy to look and see how it's going, but you want to be out there with everybody, especially when that's you've been working on from training camp on. It's good that we have good vibes and spirit.”
LaVine and Vucevic were both under minutes restrictions, so neither was in the starting lineup. Alex Caruso (cervical) and Patrick Williams (ankle) were scratches, so Dalen Terry got his first start.
This was Vucevic's first time coming off the bench since the 2016-17 season when he was in Orlando. It was LaVine's second game as a non-starter during his time with the Bulls. The first was on Dec. 26, 2018, when he was coming off an injury layoff.
White led the Bulls with 22 points and moved passed Scottie Pippen for fourth place on the Bulls' all-time list of 3-point baskets. White now has 666.
The Hornets (8-25) without LaMelo Ball are far from the NBA's biggest challenge. There will be a rematch in Charlotte on Monday. The real test begins next Saturday, when the Bulls begin a month-long stretch of playing 11 of 15 games on the road.
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