Chicago Bulls: Zach LaVine has to be an All-Star selection

On the night of Feb. 20, first-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls continued down the right path with a win at home at the United Center over the Sacramento Kings. The win for the Bulls over the Kings this weekend arrived by the final score of 122-114. This now means that Donovan and the Bulls have won six of their last nine games and three of their last four.

If not for the Bulls tough 112-105 loss on the road at the hands of superstar center Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers on the night of Feb. 19, the Bulls have won three games in a row. And this win over the Kings could be big as it starts off a short stretch against Western Conference foes.

What pushed the Bulls to nab this win over the Kings at home at the United Center on Feb. 20 was yet another solid outing from star shooting guard Zach LaVine. After he had a rather inefficient shooting night in the Bulls loss to the Sixers heading into the weekend, LaVine went off in this eight-point win over the Kings.

How LaVine helped Chicago Bulls beat the Kings

LaVine registered a game-high 38 points for the Bulls, to go along with four rebounds, three assists, three steals, no blocks, and three turnovers. And he shot 15-of-20 from the field, 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free-throw line.

The Bulls also got good production in this game from the likes of second-year point guard Coby White, veteran forward Thaddeus Young, and rookie forward Patrick Williams. White gave the Bulls 19 points, along with three rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block.

Meanwhile, Williams came through with a double-double performance in this win over the Kings. He registered 11 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, no steals, and no blocks. And he shot 5-of-10 from the field, 1-of-3 from beyond the arc, and didn’t have any attempts from the free-throw line.

While the Bulls were outrebounded in this game, they did a nice job holding the Kings to less than 45 percent from the field and roughly 27 percent from beyond the arc.

Moreover, the overarching point to this game was the fact that LaVine continues to pave a new path for this rebuilding Bulls team. At this point of the season, it’s clear that LaVine is very deserving of his first career All-Star selection.

This seems to be the storyline that comes about after each and every Bulls win where LaVine leads the way.

Up to this point of the season, LaVine has started in all 29 games he’s played in for the Bulls, averaging around 36 minutes on the floor per game. And he’s averaged 28.9 points per game, 5.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.4 blocks. LaVine shot 51.8 percent from the field, 42.9 percent from beyond the arc, and 86.2 percent from the free-throw line.

All that has amounted to a career-best 4.3 box plus/minus rating, 1.6 value over replacement player rating, 3.4 total win shares, .158 win shares per 48 minutes, 64.7 true shooting percentage, 117 offensive rating/113 defensive rating, and a 23.0 player efficiency rating.

A big problem that LaVine faced in the past with this Bulls team was the lack of success he and his squad found in the win column. But with the Bulls now sitting firmly in playoff contention in the Eastern Conference through 29 games, that image that LaVine has around the entire NBA landscape looks to be changing.

After their win over the Kings on Feb. 20, the Bulls now sport a record of 13-16. Next up for LaVine and the Bulls is a meeting with point guard John Wall, guard Victor Oladipo, and the Houston Rockets on the road on the night of Feb. 22.