Chicago Bulls: LaVine remains hot, Coby ice cold after win over Rockets

Another nice win for first-year head coach Billy Donovan and this Chicago Bulls team on the night of Jan. 18 extended their winning streak to two games. The Bulls took care of business against a Houston Rockets team and first-year head coach Stephen Silas, that is now missing superstar guard James Harden (who is now with the Brooklyn Nets after last week’s blockbuster trade).

What powered the Bulls to notch this big win over the Rockets at home at the United Center on Jan. 18 was the play of standout shooting guard Zach LaVine and this bench that has come up huge of late. The Bulls bench got them the win on the road back on the afternoon of Jan. 17 over the Dallas Mavericks, by the final score of 117-101. And it was a huge factor in them getting the 125-120 win to round out the holiday weekend over the Rockets.

LaVine and the Bulls did get to face a familiar foe on MLK Day in the former Indiana Pacers star guard Victor Oladipo. Matching the play of Dipo and point guard John Wall was the main task at hand for the likes of LaVine and second-year point guard Coby White. One of those two aforementioned Bulls guards was up to the task against the Rockets, and the other really wasn’t.

White had another slow game after his donut he put up in the scoring column in the Bulls win over the Mavericks one day prior. White registered 10 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals, and three turnovers. He did that while shooting an inefficient 4-of-12 from the field and 2-of-7 from beyond the arc.

Just when it looked like White was finally getting his game off and running after the turn of the calendar year, he’s started slowing down of late. His box plus/minus rating, win shares per 48 minutes, and player efficiency rating are once again much worse through 14 games this season than they were during his rookie campaign as a whole.

On the other hand, the Bulls got a huge outing out of LaVine. At this point of the regular season slate, the torrid pace that LaVine is on really should get him the first All-Star nod of his career to date. In this win over the Rockets, he registered a game-high 33 points, to go along with four rebounds, seven assists, two steals, one block, and five turnovers. He shot an efficient 11-of-16 from the field, 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line.

Even compared to his career numbers he posted last season, LaVine is starting to make waves again, especially on the offensive end of the floor. Through 14 games played up to this point (all of which he’s started in), LaVine is putting up career numbers again while playing in just over 35.5 minutes per game (second highest mark of his career).

He’s averaged a career-high 27.4 points per game, 4.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.4 steals, 0.6 blocks, and a whopping 4.1 turnovers. LaVine shot an ultra-efficient 49.8 percent from the field, 38.7 percent from beyond the arc, and 86.2 percent from the free-throw line.

That all has amounted to a 2.1 box plus/minus rating, .134 win shares per 48 minutes, 1.4 total win shares, 0.5 value over replacement player rating, 114 offensive rating/113 defensive rating, 64.0 true shooting percentage, and 21.3 player efficiency rating.

LaVine is truly on a different playing field than the rest of this Bulls team right now. He needs his partner in crime, White, to start playing more efficient and productive basketball on a consistent basis in the very near future.

White, LaVine, and the Bulls now hold a record of 6-8 following their wins over the Rockets and Mavericks to round out the holiday weekend. They’ll carry their two-game winning streak into a Jan. 22 battle with the Charlotte Hornets on the road next.