Chicago Bulls: Zach LaVine should dismantle Allie Quigley in HORSE semis
The semifinals of the NBA HORSE Challenge will feature Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls and Allie Quigley of the Chicago Sky.
The Chicago Bulls will see one of their own taking part in the second round of the NBA’s HORSE Challenge on April 16, with shooting guard Zach LaVine triumphing in the first round. LaVine took down former Boston Celtics star small forward Paul Pierce in the initial round of the NBA HORSE Challenge, which occurred on April 12.
While LaVine took down Pierce in what was the most entertaining in the first round of the HORSE tourney bracket, another Chicago hooper battled Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Chris Paul. Chicago Sky former 3-Point Contest winner Allie Quigley took down CP3 in a matchup that got pretty creative with certain shot attempts.
Quigley taking down CP3 was the biggest upset of the first round of the HORSE Challenge. That led to an all Chicago semifinals that is set to take place on April 16. LaVine will take on Quigley on one side of the bracket, while Utah Jazz point guard Mike Conley will battle former Detroit Pistons NBA Champion and All-Star point guard Chauncey Billups.
Maybe Conley and Billups can show off some of their solid outside shooting skills and quickness off the perimeter since this is a point guard only second round matchup. Both sides of the bracket should be interesting, at least compared to the first round, on this night.
This HORSE Challenge, similar to the NBA 2K players-only tournament, is at least providing some sort of entertainment in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic-induced season hiatus. The hiatus to the 2019-20 regular season remained in place since March 11, when Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19.
This is awesome!!! Woulda totally been me back in the day!!! Thanks for watching and I hope one day soon they can get to a game this summer!! https://t.co/V8Wa1KR6od
— Alexandria Quigley (@alliequigley) April 13, 2020
And competitors in this particular event like Quigley are certainly providing a sort of inspiration for younger women’s basketball players, which is a great sight to behold given all the negatives in the news cycle at the moment.
However, this should still be a round that the ultra-athletic LaVine takes care of. At least get some creative shots in if he’s not going to make it to the final round. Pierce and LaVine both had some nice shots in the first round of the tournament.
Both LaVine and Quigley are more than capable outside shooters. LaVine participated in the 3-Point Contest during the 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend which was hosted in Chicago at the United Center. Meanwhile, Quigley is one of the best three-point shooters in the last decade in the WNBA.
All-Chicago semifinal as @ZachLaVine takes on @wnbachicagosky's @alliequigley in the NBA HORSE Challenge at 9pm ET on ESPN. pic.twitter.com/PysVIQz4f6
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) April 16, 2020
This matchup between LaVine and Quigley is set to start at 8 p.m. CT, nationally televised on ESPN. These two will determine who represents this side of the bracket in the final round of the NBA HORSE Challenge.
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LaVine averaged 25.5 points per game, while shooting 45.0 percent from the field, 38.0 percent from beyond the arc, and 80.2 percent from the charity stripe in the season that is currently on pause. Meanwhile, Quigley averaged 13.8 points per game, while shooting 49.3 percent from the field, 44.2 percent from beyond the arc, and 87.0 percent from the charity stripe last season.