Ranking Zach LaVine’s Best Games of 2019-20

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Mar 27, 2020
Zach LaVine put together some elite-level performances throughout most of the year.

Here’s a ranking of his Top 5 breakout games.

There’s no timetable on when or if the NBA season will continue which means the Zach LaVine experience has been put on ice. It would be undeniable to state that the Bulls have found a future star who is beginning to offer more than just some prolific, high flying, scoring performances.

He is no longer a liability on the defensive side of the ball, although there are still the occasional lapses off the ball. He has improved on his abilities as a facilitator and has limited his tendency in the past of playing with tunnel vision when he has the ball in his hands. Overall LaVine is slowly starting to become the two-way player that coach Jim Boylen has stated that he can become.

It’s time to check out and rank LaVine’s top-scoring performances of the year.

5) vs Indiana Pacers – January 10th 

This game, like most of the Bulls games, resulted in a loss for the team that was embarrassing on many levels. The Pacers were missing Malcolm Brogdon, Domantas Sabonis, and Victor Oladipo. The Bulls were outrebounded by 10, and their reserves were outscored 58-31, with Doug McDermott scoring timely buckets outplaying anyone in a Bulls uniform.

That is to say anyone but Zach LaVine. LaVine was a force of nature while on the court. He scored 43 points on 23 shots including 8-13 from the three-point line. At one point LaVine scored 20 consecutive points for the struggling Bulls.

LaVine’s facilitating wasn’t much of a factor as he recorded only 1 assist throughout the entire game. But then again, given the fact that most of the Bulls had a glaring problem of putting the ball in the basket in this game, it only made the most sense that LaVine would feel compelled to go into attack mode for most of the night.

4) @ Charlotte Hornets – February 11th

Whenever Bradley Beal and LaVine suit up to play each other it usually proves to be worth the price of admission. Or if you’re just tuning in at home, it’s must-see TV. This game didn’t disappoint as both All-Star snubs showcased their unworldly games.

It wasn’t an overly impressive game for the Bulls yet again as they struggled to stay in front of their man defensively through much of the night. It was also disappointing because the Bulls were fighting against a team that also was trying to vie for the final playoff spot.

The Bulls had some quality minutes from Tomas Satoransky’s 19 points and eight assists, as well as Coby White’s 14 points and seven assists.

But the main reason the Bulls stayed in this game, particularly after falling behind by 18 points was the stellar play of LaVine. He scored 19 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter, shooting 15-21 from the field and 8-11 on three’s. Also impressively LaVine was the team’s leading rebounder with 9 total.

3) @ Memphis Grizzlies – October 25th

This game wasn’t necessarily one of LaVine’s highest-scoring outings, although he did pour in 37 points on 23 shots while also shooting 4-8 from three. What stood out the most is that this game gave us the first glimpse of the backcourt of the future.

This was a coming-out party for Coby White who scored 25 points while shooting 10-16 from the field. He also, like LaVine, shot 4-8 from the field. LaVine’s comments about White were straightforward and to the point.

“I told ya’ll from the jump, I knew how good he was going to be,” LaVine said to NBC Sports when asked about White. “He’s going to continue to get better.”

“I’ve got confidence in him. He’s fearless. He’s not scared of anything. He likes the moment. You can see it in his eyes. He wants that.”

LaVine’s praise more than likely foreshadows what is on the future horizon as far at the makeup and pecking order of this team when it comes to shots with White, not Lauri Markkanen being the side kick LaVine needs to help this team make the turnaround they’ve desperately searched for.

2) @ Cleveland – January 25th

This game was an incredible treat for Bulls fans who were probably looking at this match-up as a run of the mill game between 2 of the NBA’s bottom feeders. But there LaVine was scoring at will from everywhere on the court.

He scored 44 points to go along with 10 rebounds and 8 assists just barely missing out on his first career triple-double. This game, as with most this year and last, helped solidify the fact that there is more to LaVine’s game then just dunking the ball.

Perhaps LaVine can continue to break this perception if the season continues this year, teams are allowed to continue where they last left off, and the Bulls somehow grab the last playoff spot.

1) @ Charolette Hornets – November 23rd

This game proved to be very compelling seeing as how the game before pointed to a discord between Boylen and LaVine. Three minutes into their previous game vs. the Miami Heat Boylen benched LaVine and brought in Ryan Arcidiacono. LaVine was the only starter taken off the floor.

Boylen after the game stated that LaVine and Markkanen needed to play better and with more of an edge, but it was LaVine who garnered the bulk of his ire.

 That seemed to spark some sort of fire in LaVine who responded by scoring a career-high 49 points, including the winning 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left to give the Bulls a 116-115 win over the Charlotte Hornets. He made 13 three-pointers to tie an NBA record for most in a game.

The scoring didn’t spark the Bulls out of their lackluster play that carried through most of the season, but it did go down as one of the more impressive single-game NBA performances of the year.

Featured Image: Clutch Points

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