Zach LaVine relishes his return to form

After a fairly sluggish start between October and November (20.9 points on average, 41% on the shoot and 35% from 3-pointers), Zach LaVine then recovered, gradually rising in temperature and posting an average of 25.3 points (at 50% at the shoot and 38% at 3-points) between December and February.

Since the beginning of March, like his team, the back of the Bulls even raised his voice to shoot at 30.2 points on average and 52% success in shooting (including 46% at 3-points). Undoubtedly invigorated by this All-Star Break where he was able to recharge his batteries, he thus accumulates good performances as he goes through matches.

The proof that his arthroscopy of the left knee, undergone last spring, is now indeed ancient history…

” I’m just healthy, I work a lot with the medical staff, they do a great job, and it helps me every night », confessed the main interested party, who has not been absent since November 6 (i.e. 62 meetings in a row). ” miss matches [en début de saison]it sucks, it hurts, but I knew that I was going to come back to 100% and that I was not going to miss any more games. »

A good omen for the play-in…

Last night in Portland, not far from the city of Seattle where he grew up, Zach LaVine demonstrated in front of around thirty of his relatives that he was particularly sharp: 33 points and 8 assists, in just 30 minutes and at 12/20 to shoot (including 6/9 at 3-pointers). enough to guide Chicago towards a new victory (the sixth in eight games), yet without DeMar DeRozan…

” It’s never easy ’cause you can’t replace someone like that “, he admitted, moreover, about the void left by his All-Star teammate. ” Obviously, when you play with him, you have to adjust your game, because there are two or three players who can get going if necessary. But I’ve been in this position before, you just have to be more aggressive and read the defense differently because they might start sending two-man strikes. »

Just over two weeks and ten games from the end of the season, the Bulls (35-38) remain 10th in the East, but only a small game from the Top 8. In all likelihood, they will have to go through the play-in box to join the playoffs and the excellent form of Zach LaVine can, in this sense, bode only good things, despite the fatigue that accumulates.

” It feels like the end of March, especially after the two games that ended in double overtime and the back-to-backs. But it is okay “, reassured the 28-year-old player. ” That’s the fun part of the season: every game counts, you have to be ready every night, no matter how your body feels. Everyone feels that, everyone has the mentality of not liking to miss games and everyone loves basketball. So we stop at nothing. At this stage of the season we don’t have much room for error, so if someone misses a game there’s a good reason. We don’t want to ruin everything in the home straight. »

For the record, Zach LaVine’s 69 games in 2022/23 is his third-highest single-season total, behind his 82 in 2015/16 and 77 in 2014/15, Minnesota.