His selection to the All-Star Game, the second in a row, may have softened the pain of losing that game in Toronto, but Zach LaVine cannot count on his second star to relieve his back problems.
For three matches, he has been playing with pain. Nevertheless, he made the choice to stay on the floors but remains logically handicapped. Even seated, in a press conference, he seemed embarrassed…
“I’m just trying to help my team win,” he confides to The Athletic. “As soon as I spend time on the floor, even if I don’t score, I try to help. But yes, I have pain. It’s like that when you play 42 minutes with pain. “
Even if his figures have remained very correct for three games (20.3 points on average at 47% shooting success and 39% at 3-pts), we can feel that he has less impact, especially at the end of the match.
On rest against the Pacers?
Wouldn’t it be time to take a break, in order to relieve ourselves a little, this evening in Indiana? “We will talk about it”answers the Tokyo Olympic champion.
It must be said that the injuries of Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso deprive Billy Donovan of several rotations outside. The coach must already pull the rope with DeMar Derozan and Ayo Dosunmu, who have played 37 minutes on average for ten matches, therefore, depriving himself of Zach LaVine for several days would become problematic…
While waiting to find out if the rear will play the “back-to-back” against the Pacers or not, Nikola Vucevic is proud of his teammate, who is gritting his teeth for the collective, two weeks before the break in the season.
“The fact that he is playing through back pain says a lot about Zach,” explains the interior. “It’s not easy, he’s limited, he doesn’t have his freedom of movement. The back is not nothing when you play basketball. I’m sure he’s terribly embarrassed, especially offensively when he’s trying to be aggressive. He is very committed to winning and staying with us. Even if he’s not 100%, he helps us a lot, so it’s nice to have him with us. “
| Zach LaVine | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2014-15 | MIN | 77 | 25 | 42.2 | 34.1 | 84.2 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 3.6 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 0.1 | 10.1 |
| 2015-16 | MIN | 82 | 28 | 45.2 | 38.9 | 79.3 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 0.2 | 14.0 |
| 2016-17 | MIN | 47 | 37 | 45.9 | 38.7 | 83.6 | 0.4 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 18.9 |
| 2017-18 | CHI | 24 | 27 | 38.3 | 34.1 | 81.3 | 0.4 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 3.0 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 16.7 |
| 2018-19 | CHI | 63 | 35 | 46.7 | 37.4 | 83.2 | 0.6 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 3.4 | 0.4 | 23.7 |
| 2019-20 | CHI | 60 | 35 | 45.0 | 38.0 | 80.2 | 0.7 | 4.1 | 4.8 | 4.2 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 3.4 | 0.5 | 25.5 |
| 2020-21 | CHI | 58 | 35 | 50.7 | 41.9 | 84.9 | 0.6 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 3.5 | 0.5 | 27.4 |
| 2021-22 | CHI | 43 | 34 | 48.4 | 39.5 | 87.4 | 0.3 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.3 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 0.4 | 24.9 |
| Total | 454 | 32 | 46.1 | 38.6 | 83.0 | 0.5 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 2.7 | 0.3 | 19.6 | |
