By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The first 50-point showing of the 2023-24 NBA Regular Season belongs to Zach LaVine, but in a losing display for the Chicago Bulls.
LaVine, 28, connected 19/33 field goals, including 7/13 from beyond the arc to set a new individual scoring record. But he was not enough opposite the Detroit Pistons on Saturday. The Bulls were forced down to 1-2 with the loss in the Little Caesars Arena.
“I wasn’t happy with the way I was performing and the way the offense was looking,” the two-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner commented on coming in with 12.0 points 23% from the field over the first two games, “It’s upsetting you have a performance like that and lose. It sucks.”
The UCLA product is navigating his tenth NBA campaign, the seventh with the franchise based in Illinois. Averaging over 20 points per contest throughout his career, his talents are far from a secret.
“He is such a pronounced scorer and teams are putting him on the top of every scouting report. But we still lost by double digits,” underlined head coach Billy Donovan following the loss in the first 2023-24 installment of NBA Saturdays.
“We don’t want this to snowball where we have our backs against the wall,” added LaVine. “We are working every day. We have to figure it out.”
Deeper in the three-game road trip, the Bulls will take on the Indiana Pacers on Monday and the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.
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