Bulls-Magic Players of the Game: Finnisher And Zach Stage A Magic Act
After playing well against the Magic, Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen are both worthy of being player of the game.
After establishing a comfortable 18-point lead with eight minutes left in the game, the Chicago Bulls watched that lead evaporate. Thanks to a red-hot 14-point scoring quarter for the oft-maligned Mario Hezonja, the Magic caught up. After the lead changed hands a few more times, the game was knotted again, 101-101, with 15.2 left in regulation.
And then Zach LaVine played terrific, athletic defense, swiping an awful Jonathan Simmons inbounds pass intended for Shelvin Mack.
He broke away for a slick dunk, building the Chicago Bulls’ lead to 103-101 with 12.4 seconds remaining. LaVine iced his first free throws of the night with two seconds left in regulation, helping seal the 105-101 victory for the Bulls.
The fact that Chicago’s win over a fellow bottom feeder in Orlando may affect their lottery odds later on is fodder for another blog post.
This post is all about the Player of the Game.
Although for a while I thought new dad Lauri Markkanen would run away with the game ball, LaVine’s late-game heroics and solid all-around play made it a toss-up.
The young stars helped the Chicago Bulls hold on to a tenuous lead to defeat the Orlando Magic at home, 105-101.
LaVine, now free of his prior minutes restriction, had himself quite a night. The shooting guard scored 18 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 5 dimes. He made 7 of his 16 field goals and 2 of his 4 three-point attempts.
LaVine had been up-and-down since his return to the court in January. He’s averaging 17.3 points, 4.5 boards, and 2.5 assists this season. He’s shooting a very solid 37.1% from deep and 82.4% from the charity stripe.
His defense, however, looked relatively clueless until recently.
Between this contest and his 35-point outburst against the Timberwolves on Friday, LaVine has flashed some serious two-way potential. He’s finally developing some awareness to couple with his athleticism. The ceiling for this kid remains sky-high. Athletically, LaVine hasn’t lost a step following that ACL surgery. Unlike.. well, you know. It’s very cool he’s piecing things together this quickly as a Bull.
Markkanen continued to pump up his season averages in his All-Rookie First-Team campaign.
In just 30 minutes, he scored 21 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. Both numbers are above his respective season averages of 15.2 and 7.7.
Like LaVine, Markkanen showed that he’s more than had been advertised. Where LaVine showcased an unexpected defensive side tonight, Markkanen demonstrated that he’s a scorer first, and a shooter second.
That’s because things weren’t all wine and roses on Markkanen’s stat line. Stacey King lamented a perceived slight against Markkanen not being invited to All-Star Weekend’s Three-Point Contest festivities. And then watched Markkanen miss all six of his three-point attempts. Markkanen still converted 9 of his 19 field goal attempts overall. He also connected on all three of his free throws.
While we’re here, I have another Stacey note. I appreciate that King quickly shuttered his “King of the North” nickname for Lauri Markkanen after realizing that it was not going to catch on. “The Finnisher” is a perfect moniker, for a guy who finds a way to get his numbers even when his outside touch abandons him.
So both Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen were Co-Players of the Game. Meanwhile, the Non-Players of the Game were big men Omer Asik, Cristiano Felicio and Noah Vonleh.
Will the Turkish Delight ever see minutes on the Bulls again? Maybe when the tank gets even more tank-tastic? Only time will tell. If Chicago wants to stop losing all these games with an obviously promising roster, they should play him 48 minutes a night.