The Bulls New Dynamic Duo
Holy dynamic duos Batman! The Bulls have finally discovered their 1-2 punch in the form of Lauri Markkanen and Zach Lavine.
It took some time for the chemistry between Lavine and Markkanen to fully blossom, in large part due to injury setbacks. Last season saw Lavine returning from an ACL tear and not being at 100%. This season Markkanen missed the first 23 games with an elbow injury and had to work his way back into rhythm. Now with both players having put their respective injuries behind them, and accumulating more minutes, playing alongside one another, they are becoming the Bulls much needed 1-2 punch, right before our very eyes.
@chicagobulls
The beginning of the season saw Markkanen watching from the sideline while Lavine did his best to carry the Bulls offensive load. Teams would blitz Zach, by sending 2 defenders at him at a time, and packing the paint, because the Bulls simply didn’t have anyone out on the court to stretch the floor and allow Zach space to operate. When Markkanen returned to action, he took some of the pressure off of Lavine, by simply being out on the court. Markkanen is one of the premier stretch forwards in the league and gave opponents another player in red to worry about. But having missed training camp, preseason and 23 games, Lauri would have to play himself into basketball shape and overcome the psychological effects of recovering from an injury. Now that Markkanen has cleared that mental hurdle, he has been on an absolute tear coming out of the All-Star break.
Photo: @chicagobulls
Markkanen is averaging 26.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists on 49% shooting and 37.9 % from distance in the month of February. He’s posted a double-double in 9 of the Bulls last 10 games, and has been playing much more aggressive. He has begun to make his drag step jumper his signature move, as it is pretty much unblockable. Markkanen’s tear as well as the addition of Otto Porter Jr. by trade, has injected new life into the Bulls offense. In the 154 mins, Lauri and Otto have shared on the court, no two-man line up in the East that have played at least 100 mins together have a better offensive rating (132.2) than the Bulls during that time.
Lauri and Otto’s ability to stretch the floor has opened up plenty of space for Lavine to operate as well, for the month of February, Zach is averaging 25.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists on 54% shooting 48.8 % from deep. Zach is knocking down everything, and with more space to see the floor he has been showing off his playmaking ability, “Point Lavine” has become a real thing in Chicago. Zach and Lauri have been destroying teams with their two-man game, of pick n rolls and pick n pops, so it’s no surprise, that the two posted their career high in points in the same game (Zach 42, Lauri 35) combining for 77 of the Bulls 126 points.
They became the first Bulls teammates to score 35 + points in the same game since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in 1996. As their two-man game continues to solidify, the future looks bright for the Bulls and their new dynamic duo.
Photos: @chicagobulls, nbcsports.com
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