The Bulls just won a basketball game in absolutely core-shaking fashion. Wow. Through the postgame jitters, here are some observations from ‘Zach LaVine Night’ in Charlotte:
Bulls come out energized...
After the debacle at home Friday night against the Heat, the importance of this game could not be overstated. At least early on, that fact was not lost on the Bulls.
They came out of the gates in Charlotte firing on all cylinders, canning four of their first five three-point attempts en route to a 22-for-47 (46.8%) shooting night from behind the arc, overall. In the backcourt, Coby White (who finished with a career-high 28 points) and Zach LaVine sparked the offense early by raining hellfire from deep and jumping passing lanes on the defensive end.
In fact, the Bulls had a lot of fun in transition early on:
Before getting in a bit of foul trouble in the second quarter, Wendell Carter was in the middle of the action, as well. He ran the floor hard and scrapped for rebounds all night, and even stepped out to hit his second three of the season to give the Bulls a 16-8 lead at the under-8 timeout of the first.
… but struggle to pull away...
They had their chances. Up as many as 14 in the second quarter, the Bulls time and time again failed to keep their foot on the gas and pull out of reach of the Hornets. They got that 14-point lead by way of a particularly exciting sequence featuring a Zach LaVine three, Tomas Satoransky hammer and Coby White jumper to pull ahead 56-42 with just under three minutes left in the second quarter.
NBA
But, in the most microcosmic fashion possible, the Bulls then went scoreless for the rest of the quarter and led only 56-49 at the half. That foreshadowed an eventual Hornets comeback, which they punctuated with a 19-1 run in the third quarter (in that frame, the Bulls shot 5-for-19 from the floor and were outscored 25-13).
… BUT IT DIDN’T MATTER BECAUSE ZACH LAVINE WAS TRANSCENDENT
It’s hard to put into words how necessary, awe-inspiring and flabbergasting this Zach LaVine performance was. He finished with 49 points and a franchise-record, history-making 13 threes on 17-for-28 shooting. For long periods of the night, he simply couldn’t miss. The biggest shot of the night sucked every ounce of life out of the Spectrum Center:
Just, wow.
We’ll see if this continues to carry over, but for now, it appears Boylen struck the right chord in his yanking of LaVine Friday night against the Heat. This is the No. 1 offensive option the Bulls have been searching for all season.
(Also, shout out Arch for being all over that loose ball. He was everywhere tonight, whether the team was down, up, or tied, energized or flat — even if he failed to score in the game.)
Lauri Markkanen disappears — again
What can’t get lost in what’s sure to be a completely measured and even-keeled response to this game is Markkanen’s disappearance. None of the aggressiveness or shot-making from his 35-point opening night performance in Charlotte was evident in this one.
He not only finished the night 1-for-9 from the floor, but also on the bench down the stretch. Boylen has proved early in the season, that he’s not afraid to relegate his perceived cornerstones to the pine if he feels its best for the team. Tonight, it worked, but sooner rather than later, Markkanen is going to need to string together consistent play to quell growing concerns about his development.
Markkanen’s night is an important reminder that — no matter how exciting this finish was — this team needed a miracle comeback to beat the Hornets by one. This isn’t a season-defining win, and this team still has a long way to go.
P.S. Sorry, king
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