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TORONTO — When the Chicago Bulls trailed by 19 points in the opening minutes of Wednesday’s second half against the Toronto Raptors, Zach LaVine knew he was needed.
The Raptors spent the entire first half blanketing DeMar DeRozan and crowding the paint with their looming length. The Bulls offense was stalling out, wheels spinning as they failed to keep up at the rim or behind the arc.
For most of this season, LaVine had eschewed the idea of “hero ball.” But with less than 24 minutes left in the game — and potentially the season — the Bulls needed a hero. For the rest of the night, LaVine delivered.
In two quarters, LaVine delivered the type of performance that garners the maximum contract he signed last summer — scoring 30 points and serving as the engine that kept the Bulls’ postseason hopes alive for at least one more day.
“He was assertive, he was aggressive, he was very, very decisive,” coach Billy Donovan said. “When he does that, he’s at his best. His performance was extraordinary. It gave us life and it gave us hope.”
After the 19-point comeback, DeRozan joked he could tell LaVine was about to rip off a scoring deluge when his feet began to move almost too quickly — chopping each step, stabbing dribbles into the hardwood, sending defenders flying past him with a shift of his hips.
The guard showcased his rare combination of explosiveness and finesse.
LaVine shot 12-for-22 from the field, converted 13 of his 15 free throws and made two of the team’s seven 3-pointers, finishing with 39 points.
“He had that mentality, like, he’s going to do whatever he can do to help us get back in the game,” Donovan said.
When LaVine launched a shot with his left foot planted on the Scotiabank Arena logo in the third quarter — cutting the lead to 87-82 — he seemed to bounce back down the court with hardly controlled confidence.
But LaVine was always focused on the next play, chipping away steadily at the Raptors’ lead to punch the Bulls back ahead for a gutsy finish.
“I wanted to get the next one after that too,” LaVine said with a laugh. “When I get going, I’m going with confidence.”
Before Wednesday’s game, center Nikola Vučević was scrolling through Twitter when he came across a post needling LaVine for his lack of postseason performances.
It wasn’t a competitor or colleague, just a random tweet from an unnamed fan. But it still irked Vučević. Vučević didn’t respond to the tweet or show it to LaVine. And a few hours later, Vučević felt LaVine answered the question in the best way possible.
“I’m sure that guy feels a little stupid right now,” Vučević said.
For NBA players, criticism from fans on social media needs to be brushed off. But LaVine always has faced questions about how he would hold up in the postseason. His playoff debut last season didn’t offer much opportunity — he played through a left knee injury in the first four games of a first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks, then missed the final game with COVID-19.
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But this postseason is different. After needing a monthslong ramp-up into the season, LaVine has been fully comfortable since December — and is playing his best basketball since the All-Star break. After shootaround Wednesday morning, LaVine said he felt “confident and calm.”
And after weeks of beseeching LaVine to think less and shoot more, guard Patrick Beverley believes his teammate showed the rest of the league how capable he is.
“The message is sent out,” Beverley said. “Anyone who doubted his capabilities to perform under pressure, I think he silenced those critics. He has a lot to prove and he’s been proving it.”
LaVine’s performance earned universal acknowledgment — especially from DeRozan, whose homecoming somewhat sidelined stories about his teammate leading to the play-in game.
DeRozan was quick to put LaVine in the forefront of the conversation after the game.
“It’s how special he is,” DeRozan said. “There’s not many people in this league that has the talent that he has. It feels good just to be able to see him get appreciated. From the moment that I got here, I want everything to come his way in a positive nature because I know how hard he works, how much he cares about his game.”
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The praise forced both players to pause.
“I don’t say this many nice things to him all the time,” DeRozan joked.
Replied LaVine, leaning back in his chair: “I love it.”
LaVine appreciated the acknowledgment while also shrugging off questions about the bigger picture of his big second half.
“I just wanted to help us win,” he said.
Things will get harder — the Bulls face the Heat on Friday in Miami (6 p.m., TNT) for a shot at a first-round rematch against the Bucks.
And LaVine will have to keep rising to that challenge to quiet the questions that follow any star trying to prove himself.
