Bulls’ Zach LaVine scored 41 points and went 11/13 from three point range in a 126-112 Bulls’ win vs. the 76ers on Friday
Zach LaVine sank 11 3-pointers Friday night in the Chicago Bulls’ first victory over the Philadelphia 76ers since March 2019.
It’s the second-most 3-pointers for a game in franchise history. The most? LaVine’s 13 on Nov. 23, 2019, in a road victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
“Once I got it going, that basket looked like an ocean,” LaVine told NBC Sports Chicago’s Adam Amin and Stacey King on the broadcast.
Indeed, LaVine sank his first eight 3-pointers before missing a heat check launch from directly in front of the Bulls’ bench. He finished 11-for-13 from 3-point range as the Bulls made a season-high 20 from beyond the arc.
LaVine joined Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry as the only players in NBA history to make at least 11 3-pointers while shooting 80 percent or more. LaVine’s 3-point percentage jumped from 37.8 percent to 40.1 percent after the sizzling performance.
Earlier this season, LaVine passed Ben Gordon for second place on the franchise’s all-time made 3-pointers list. LaVine now has 836 career 3-pointers as a Bull, trailing only Kirk Hinrich’s 1,049.
LaVine has made 185 and 200 3-pointers in the last two seasons in which he played 67 and 58 games, respectively. So Hinrich is in his sights.
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The night reminded all of LaVine’s power in catch-and-shoot situations and ability to catch fire as one of the league’s most effortless scorers. But it also featured strong defensive sequences and six assists as the Bulls posted 33, one off their season-high as a team.
Nikola Vucevic finished with a 10-assist triple double, setting the tone early offensively by taking advantage of mismatches against the Joel Embiid-less 76ers. In fact, even after his near-record-setting night, LaVine passed credit elsewhere.
“I really think the MVP of the game was Vooch,” he told Amin and King.
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