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LaVine lets great night slip away as Bulls lose to Detroit

Zach LaVine was having the kind of NBA superstar moment he's been waiting for.

He pulled up with confidence and drained a tying 3-pointer with 24.6 seconds left in the Bulls' home opener against Detroit on Saturday.

A few moments later, he was walled off from completing the comeback. LaVine was guarding Pistons point guard Ish Smith at the top of the key, but caught a double-screen of the most muscular bookends available in the NBA, Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond.

The play worked like a charm. Smith has been a reserve for several teams during his career and isn't necessarily a household name, but he's has some of the quickest feet on hardwood. With Lavine out of the picture, Smith had no problem splitting Jabari Parker and Bobby Portis for the game-winning layup with 5.4 seconds left.

When LaVine lost the handle on his last-gasp 3-pointer, the Bulls had lost 118-116 at the United Center, falling to 0-2 on the season.

"Tough play. You don't want to give up a layup for game," Portis said. "You want to at least make them take a tough shot. We've been sitting here (in the locker room) talking about it the whole time. That's something that we've really got to work on, the late game execution on defense."

Parker finished with 33 points, becoming the third player in Bulls history to open the season with a pair of 30-point games, joining Michael Jordan and Bob Love.

"We've just got to get our defense right," LaVine said. "It's really upsetting because we came back, but we can't give up a layup. That was as easy a layup as you can get. So it's really upsetting."

Many will ask why Parker was on the floor for an important defensive possession, since that hasn't been his strength since joining the Bulls or at any time in his NBA career. Coach Fred Hoiberg was asked that exact question.

"They were small so we went with the group we felt got us back into that game and gave us a chance to win," Hoiberg said.

A large part of this Bulls season will be about progress and development, and LaVine is off to a nice start in that department. He scored the ball efficiently on Saturday, hitting 12 of 21 shots and got to the foul line 9 times. The tying 3-pointer electrified the crowd, but he was kicking himself for the final miscue.

After accepting the inbound pass, LaVine got a screen and Griffin switched onto him defensively. LaVine thought he could launch another successful 3-pointer for the win, but lost his grip on the ball on the way up.

"Take a two-dribble 3 and the ball slipped out of my hands," he said. "That can't happen. It's got to at least be a miss or a make. It's really upsetting to lose that way. We played so good, to have it end like that, it's an emotional roller coaster."

Overall, this wasn't a bad performance by the Bulls, missing two starters in Kris Dunn (paternity leave) and Lauri Markkanen (elbow). The Pistons had it going from 3-point range all night, hitting 18 of 40 attempts, while Griffin recorded in 33 points and 12 rebounds.

Point guard Cameron Payne had a nice bounceback after a rough game in Philadelphia on Thursday. He scored 17 points to go with 4 assists.

"We took adversity a lot better this game," LaVine said. "In Philly, they went on their run and we just laid down. This time we came back and got right into the game and had a good chance to win. It's a little deflating but we've got to let go of it."

Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls

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