Zach LaVine’s ability to produce on the “clutch” can bring him to the All-Star Game this year. Lavine, 24, starts to show his scoring ability in crucial moments for his team with the last showing against the San Antonio Spurs leading the Chicago Bulls to their second straight victory.
Against the Spurs, he scored 14 of his 23 points in the 4th quarter, aiding the Bulls to get the win (110-109). Particularly, Jim Boylen’s team came-from-behind in the last 12 minutes of the contest to get their 19th win, with LaVine making the most important free-throws of the game with 2.1 remaining in the regulation.
The Chicago Bulls won 3-out-of 5 in the last week, while they have a record of 6-4 in their last 10 fixtures. The next couple of matches will determine if they can make the playoffs, being just two games behind the 8th-seeded Brooklyn Nets and 2.5 games behind the 7th-seeded Orlando Magic.
Zach LaVine is the cornerstone of the winning run for the Bulls in the last couple of weeks. Namely, he scored a game high in every of these last 10 games, averaging 28.7 points per contest on 46% in FG%, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
Furthermore, he surpassed the 40-point mark two times against the Cleveland Cavaliers during this 10-matches span, while he finished two more games with 30 points.
The most important contribution of LaVine’s performances is his production in the clutch moments for his team. The high-flying scoring guard is averaging 0.512 points per possession, which is the best among players with +20 games in the “clutch”. He is also 4th in points per game in the last minutes of fourth quarters with 3.6 per contest in 28 games.
Moreover, the Bulls are improved by +2.7 points in Offensive Rating averaging 107.5 points per 100 possessions in 4th quarters contrastingly to their season average of 104.8. At the same time, they are worse, as long as defensive rating goes, conceding 2.2 points more from their 49-game average of 106.6 points per 100 possessions.
Generally, LaVine is making his case for his all-star selection this season and if the Bulls are able to keep winning,especially against teams which are close to them in the standings, they may return to postseason after the 2016-2017 season.
